Living Between Worlds
by alittleinsane963
Summary: Lizzy is looking forward to starting her sixth year at Hogwarts where she will resume her dueling studies, start the process of becoming an animagus, and take over as Quidditch Captain. She could do without transfers from Beauxbatons, however...
1. Chapter 1

**ONE**

"Finished!" said Jane cheerfully after setting the final pin in Lizzy's hair. "You look very well tonight, Lizzy."

"Not half so well as you," said Lizzy with a teasing smile. After a moment, she sighed and looked longingly at the trunk in the corner of her room.

"I recommend against sulking this evening, Lizzy," said Jane after rolling her eyes at Lizzy's self-depreciation. "We'll be returning to Hogwarts in a mere month. Enjoy the time with Mama and Papa."

Lizzy shook her head and, with it, the melancholic look from her face. "You are, of course, correct," she said, reapplying a smile. "After all, I cannot drive off Mr. Bingley and his five thousand a year with my scowl, not when he is sure to fall violently in love with one of my sisters at a single glance!"

Jane giggled at Lizzy's well-humored epitome. "Careful, Lizzy, lest Mr. Bingley fall for you!"

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "You and I both know Mama will push you at him."

Mary suddenly entered the room, massaging her temples.

"Good evening, Mary," said Jane pleasantly, though not before shooting Lizzy a retaliatory look. "Is Mama at it again?"

"She's in such a fit that I can't ignore her," Mary answered dismally. "The sooner this assembly is over, the better! You know how I detest them!"

Lizzy exuded sympathy for her younger sister as Jane encouraged Mary to sit and began humming a soothing tune.

Mary, though only preparing to enter her fourth year at Hogwarts, had begun training in Legilimancy the previous year to some amount of success. She hoped it would help her understand those around her more, thus enabling her to meld better with society. Unfortunately, her fellow students had begun to become wary of her, fearful of her going through their very private thoughts.

Upon the girls coming home for the summer and tucking their wands away, Mary had discovered she was so familiar with the way the minds of her family members worked that she was able to hear their thoughts at all times. She had shared her discovery only with Jane and Lizzy, knowing they would aid her in any way they could. She had also practiced the piano nearly obsessively, as it so occupied her own mind as to give her relief from those of her family.

"Can't I go back early with you?" Mary asked.

"Unfortunately not," Lizzy answered. "Jane's returning early for training as Head Girl, and Professor McGonagall's told me to come early to get a head start on my animagus training."

"Surely I can come for some extra help in Legilimancy!"

Lizzy and Jane exchanged a look, confident their mother's fit of nerves would prevent Mary hearing their thoughts.

"When we arrive, Mary, I will ask Professor Flitwick if he would be willing to work with you a few times before the school year starts," Jane offered.

"I would advise against raising your hopes," Lizzy cautioned. "The staff will be busy, what with the influx of students coming in from Beauxbatons."

"Yet McGonagall, who will be busier than anyone save Dumbledore, will carve out time for _you_," said Mary bitterly.

"I'll be earning my keep," Lizzy said, trying to sound aggravated. "McGonagall's said that she will have plenty of work for me to do when I'm not tending to lessons."

Mary looked at Lizzy blandly. "Remember who you are trying to fool, Lizzy."

Lizzy rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. She flinched a moment later as Kitty and Lydia burst into the room.

"It's not _fair_!" Lydia burst, stomping over to Mary. "Why should _you_ get to go to the assembly while Kitty and I are forced to stay home?"

"I would gladly exchange evenings, if only Mama would allow it," said Mary, beginning to rub her temples again.

"I don't see why _I_ should not go," Kitty pouted. "Mary went out when she was my age!"

"You would be decidedly bored," said Lizzy, thinking quickly. "Papa has been very clear that Mary will _not_ be dancing. She is only attending to observe."

"Jane!" Mrs. Bennet's shrill voice called. "Lizzy! Mary! Come! We must not be late!'

Lydia rushed from the room, undoubtedly to attempt once more to convince her parents to allow her to attend.

With the limited time they had left before Mrs. Bennet became truly unhinged, Jane and Lizzy fixed Mary's hair from her massaging her skull and checked each other's outfits. The three descended as a group.

"But I shall be going to school in six weeks!" Lydia was protesting. "Why should I not be allowed to the assembly, to say goodbye to my neighbors?"

"Oh, my dear girl," Mrs. Bennet cooed. "You'll be attending dances soon enough. The time will just fly by! Then you shall be sought after by every young man in sight!"

Lydia stomped her foot, then stormed back up the stairs to her room. Kitty stayed on the main floor, though she cried as her mother and sisters loaded into the carriage and set off.

Mrs. Bennet chattered nonstop the entire way. She complained that Mr. Bennet was not attending, so would not be able to introduce them to Mr. Bingley. Gave very pointed advice to her girls. Bemoaned the fact they were soon leaving. Wailed over her certain future of being thrown out of Longbourn and into the hedgerows. Babbled about local gossip.

Lizzy chose staring out the window over listening. Witnessing her mother's hysteria made her long to return to Hogwarts all the more. At home, in the Muggle world, Lizzy knew she was just a woman. If she truly belonged to that world, she would have to choose between marriage for convenience as early as possible, or a life of toil and hard work in some sort of service. As a witch, however, her life was full of possibilities. Women in the magical world were on equal footing with the men. Lizzy dearly loved the freedom she had at Hogwarts and was forever grateful that she would soon be able to _choose_ what happened with her future.

"Lizzy!" Mrs. Bennet cried. "Lizzy, are you listening to me?"

"My mind wandered, Mama, I apologize," Lizzy said, snapping back to the reality in front of her.

Mrs. Bennet huffed. "I was directing you to keep your sharp tongue to yourself this evening! I'll not have you scaring off the new young men from Jane!"

Lizzy rather thought her mother's shrill voice would scare off the new arrivals to the neighborhood, but gave her mother the desired response. She knew that was the easiest way to end the diatribe.

Finally, the carriage came to a halt and the Bennet women were handed out.

"I don't see why I should be made to go to this," Mary said miserably, walking alongside Lizzy as Mrs. Bennet hissed further advice to Jane ahead. "I'm too young to be out, not that I wish to dance anyway."

"Yes, but Mama wants us seen as much as possible, since we spend so much time away," Lizzy reasoned. "Do you think you'll be alright?"

At the first assembly they had attended after coming back from Hogwarts, the Bennets had to leave early, Mary's head hurt so much. While she could understand the thoughts of her family members clearly, all the neighbors she grew up with created an unending and indecipherable murmur when gathered together that overwhelmed the poor girl.

"I will manage," said Mary shortly. Mrs. Bennet had been so upset with her when they had to return home previously that she was determined to deal with everything this time.

Upon entering, Lizzy squeezed Mary's hand, mentally wished her well, and then left her to Mrs. Bennet's less-than-stellar chaperoning to attend to Charlotte.

"Lizzy, I am glad to see you," said Charlotte with a smile. "You and I shall have to visit frequently before you and Jane leave. Oh, what will the neighborhood do with _all_ the Bennet girls gone this year?"

"Live very peacefully, I would imagine," Lizzy quipped. Charlotte was the only thing Lizzy missed while away, besides her father, occasionally. While Charlotte was not aware Lizzy was a witch, she did know that the school Lizzy went away to every year was not the average, but respected that Lizzy could not answer questions.

Lizzy and Charlotte fell into easy conversation. Just before the first dance started, they were claimed by old friends and danced merrily. Almost as soon as the first dance finished, there was a hiccup in the rhythm of the assembly caused by a group of newcomers entering late.

"Which of the party is the famed Mr. Bingley?" Lizzy asked mockingly after she and Charlotte and disengaged from their partners.

Charlotte gave Lizzy a warning glance before pointing out Mr. Bingley and all the members of his party: his sisters Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst, Mr. Hurst, and a friend called Mr. Darcy.

Lizzy had not time to fish out any more details, as Mrs. Bennet was none too subtly signaling for her. She hurried over before more of a scene could be made and was joined at her mother's side by Jane.

Mrs. Bennet hissed her excitement that Mr. Darcy was a single man worth twice as much as Mr. Bingley. As she carried on, Lizzy looked around uncomfortably and was infinitely grateful no one that would judge was within ear shot. Though she might not truly belong to the Muggle world, she understood what was accepted and what was not in it.

Before long, Mrs. Bennet snapped her mouth shut as Sir William approached with the newcomers and performed introductions.

Lizzy was impressed with Mr. Bingley's amiability, but less so with the rest of his party, who seemed to think the assembly below them. His sisters and brother-in-law found excuses to wander away as soon as introductions had been completed. Mr. Bingley wasted no time in asking Jane to dance, which pleased Mrs. Bennet exceedingly.

Lizzy became absolutely horrified when Mrs. Bennet began shamelessly fishing for Mr. Darcy to ask herself to dance. Though his abrupt dismissal and exit from the conversation was rather rude, she found she could not blame him, as she, herself, wanted the floor to swallow her whole.

Mrs. Bennet began, as quietly as she was capable of, raging against Mr. Darcy and his high-handed manners.

Lizzy gave her mother teasing responses, and Mary amused looks. Mary had a desperate glint in her eyes, and Lizzy had been about to volunteer to look after her for a dance or two while Mrs. Bennet went off on her own, but was asked by Charlotte's brother to dance. She apologized mentally to Mary as she took to the floor and Jane was claimed by a neighbor who had patiently been waiting his turn.

After Charlotte's brother, Lizzy danced with one of the Goulding boys while Jane dance with Mr. Bingley, and then she had her own turn with the man. Her estimation of him only rose from her first meeting him. Mr. Bingley was everything friendly and polite, though Lizzy could not say the same of his friend. Mr. Darcy had danced the second with Miss Bingley, the third with Mrs. Hurst, and was now prowling the perimeter of the room with a rather haughty expression, though there were several other young women hoping for a partner.

Mr. Bingley returned Lizzy to her mother and, at the same time, asked Jane for a second dance. Lizzy thought Mary looked ready to burst, and so she encouraged her mother go and sit with her friends, offering to look after Mary for a dance or two. She did not mind in the slightest, as there was a disproportionate number of women to men in attendance. She would take her turn sitting out.

Mary sighed in relief as Mrs. Bennet bustled away.

"Well, Mary, what shall I think of?" Lizzy asked good naturedly as the pair settled themselves into chairs to watch Jane and Mr. Bingley dance. "Horses? The outdoors? Food? Practicing the piano?"

"Think whatever you wish," said Mary lightly. "Your thoughts are generally amusing, whatever direction they might tend."

Lizzy contented herself with watching her neighbors behave much as she expected them to, and was pleased to see Jane so happy dancing with Mr. Bingley. Lizzy knew she could never be happy to marry a Muggle, but Jane was of such a disposition that she could be happy with anyone, as long as she truly loved them and was loved in return. By the second dance of the set, Lizzy began to suspect that love between Jane and Mr. Bingley may very well be possible. They seemed so well matched.

"Don't be so hasty, Lizzy," Mary cautioned.

Before Lizzy could reply, Mr. Bingley stepped from the dance to stand before Mr. Darcy who, Lizzy was surprised to note, was rather closer to her than she had thought.

"**Come, Darcy," said [Bingley], "I must have you dance. I hate to see you standing about by yourself in this stupid manner. You had much better dance."**

Had Lizzy been at Hogwarts, she would have laughed openly. As it was, she had to turn her amusement into a slight cough to conceal it, then quickly school her features.

"**I certainly shall not. You know how I detest it, unless I am particularly acquainted with my partner. At such an assembly as this, it would be insupportable. Your sisters are engaged, and there is not another woman in the room whom it would not be a punishment to me to stand up with."**

Lizzy felt her ire start to rise at Mr. Darcy's response, and Mary put a cautionary hand on her arm.

"**I would not be so fastidious as you are," cried Bingley, "for a kingdom! Upon my honour, I never met with so many pleasant girls in my life as I have this evening; and there are several of them, you see, uncommonly pretty."**

"_**You**_** are dancing with the only handsome girl in the room," said Mr. Darcy, looking at the eldest Miss Bennet.**

"**Oh, she is the most beautiful creature I ever beheld! But there is one of her sisters sitting down just behind you, who is very pretty, and I dare say very agreeable. Do let me ask my partner to introduce you."**

"**Which do you mean?" and turning round, he looked for a moment at Elizabeth, till, catching her eye, he withdrew his own, and coldly said, "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt **_**me**_**, and I am in no humor at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me."**

Lizzy allowed herself a moment to seethe before deciding to be amused, instead. "Come, Mary," she said, rising and linking her arm with her sister's. With a mischievous smile, she led Mary past Mr. Darcy over to Charlotte, where she recounted the man's poor manners with much bravado. Charlotte laughed easily with her friend.

Later that night, Lizzy and Jane sat on their bed and discussed, in detail, everything that had happened at the assembly. Mary had declined to join, stating her head hurt something fierce and that she wanted to sleep.

"Oh, that was so very wrong of him to say!" Jane said laughingly upon Lizzy's exuberant recitation of the overheard conversation.

"Indeed it was," Lizzy agreed with a grin. "He should be well pleased with the results, however. I am sure our neighbors want as little do with him and he does with them."

"It was rather strange for him to only dance with Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst."

"You've not told me of your dances with Mr. Bingley," said Lizzy with an arched brow.

Jane blushed. "I told you of them in the carriage."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "Your recounting in front of Mama was _hardly_ satisfactory!"

Jane's blush deepened. "I very much enjoyed dancing with Mr. Bingley. I should look forward to it again. He is everything a young man should be."

Lizzy knew what a big deal such an admission from her reticent sister was, and so she grew serious. "Do be careful, Jane. I should hate to see you stow your wand away for a Muggle only to find you grow tired of each other after a few years."

"I don't plan on rushing into anything, be it with a wizard or a Muggle," said Jane with her gentle firmness.

The pair conversed some time longer before blowing out the candles and going to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note**

New year, new story! I hope you enjoy it!

"But, Alittleinsane, what about the three open stories you've already started? What's happening there?"

Yeah... so here's the deal, fam. Professors' Point of View: I regularly work with traumatized children, so delving into McGonagall's thoughts during the events of Half-Blood Prince sometimes hits a little close to home and it's kind of difficult to motivate myself to get in that mindset when I already spend a good deal of time in it. HP/NCIS Crossover: I am crazy stupid out of loop on NCIS right now, and have to rewatch some stuff to be able to write as I would like. And ain't nobody got time fo' dat right now... or patience/desire to sit mindlessly in front of a TV for hours and hours... HP/Major Crimes Crossover: see previous excuse.

Fear not for this story, however, for I have already completed it! Awwww yisssss!

Please let me know what you think so far!


	2. Chapter 2

**TWO**

Lizzy passed the weeks with only a few moments of melancholic longing to return to Hogwarts. Following the assembly, she had gone to Lucas Lodge with her mother and sisters. While she, Jane, Mary, and Charlotte attended to the conversation of their mothers, Kitty and Lydia wandered around the garden with Maria Lucas, giggling and generally being ridiculous.

Mrs. Bennet had insisted that Jane and Lizzy go with her to call on the Bingleys. Lizzy had been torn between being pleased and concerned when Mr. Bingley continued to show a definitive preference for her sister. Jane, however, was very receptive, and so she could only be supportive. Mrs. Bennet took every advantage she could fathom to throw the two together. Several more calls and dinners were exchanged.

Eventually, Jane was invited to tea by Miss Bingley. Despite the weather being poor, Mrs. Bennet insisted Jane ride the family horse, resulting in the family receiving a note from the Bingleys conveying Jane's illness.

Lizzy stated her intent to go to Netherfield the next morning, much to her mother's dismay. Just before she intended to leave, her father pulled her into his study.

"Have you your wand, Lizzy?" Mr. Bennet asked lowly.

"No, Papa," Lizzy answered. "It's locked away, as it has been all summer. Imagine if Kitty or Lydia got their hands on it, or if Mama were to see what we were capable of! Jane and I haven't passed the proper exams yet, anyway. We can't use our wands outside Hogwarts."

"Yes, I remember you explaining this all to me before," said Mr. Bennet with a slight twitch of his lip. "If I remember correctly from previous experiences, however, strange things tend to happen when you girls are ill. I should hate for there to be an incident between the two worlds of which you are a part because of your mother's foolishness."

Lizzy bit her tongue and considered her response. Her impulse had been to state clearly that her father could have curtailed her mother, if he had so wished, but she refrained. Before Hogwarts, she had believed her father to be without fault. After seeing what good the diligent care of her professors did for herself and her classmates, however, she had begun to see how indolent her father was. She still loved him very much, but had gained more experience in the world.

"Very well, Papa," Lizzy said after a moment. "I shall retrieve my wand, but will only use it if something happens and I can think of no way to explain it away."

"There's a good girl, Lizzy," said Mr. Bennet with a twinkle in his eye. "Off you go, now."

Lizzy smiled at her father's tone and kissed him on his forehead before hurrying to her room, securely locking the door, and fishing the key to her trunk out from beneath a loose floorboard in the corner. She lovingly took her wand from its case and, resisting the urge to do a spell – any would do – she carefully stuffed it up her sleeve.

After locking her trunk back up and dawning her outerwear, Lizzy finally set out for Netherfield, her thoughts running wild as she went.

Lizzy considered Jane's growing attachment to Mr. Bingley. What would it mean if her sister _were_ to marry a Muggle? Lizzy felt no fear that Jane would be unhappy. Her sister was so much more the Muggle-worthy lady than herself. Jane could live the life with hardly a regret, so long as she and Bingley were truly happy. What Lizzy _did_ fear, however, was how much a part of each other's lives she and Jane would be able to be. They would be members of separate worlds: she the magical, and Jane the Muggle. Lizzy was practical enough to know that would strain their relationship immensely.

Soon, Lizzy decided she did not like to think of such a painful prospect that might never occur. To truly turn her mind from the unpleasant idea of losing her sister, she aimed her vitriol at an easy target: Mr. Darcy.

The man had done nothing in the weeks since the assembly to at all counter Lizzy's first impression of him. She had seen him several times at various functions, most recently at a party held by the Lucas family. Mr. Darcy had barely spoken a word to anyone outside his group and did nothing but scowl and prowl the entire evening. To his other faults, he had also added staring unashamedly. Lizzy scoffed as she remembered his dark gaze focusing on her, waiting for her to put her faults on display.

"Miss Elizabeth!"

Lizzy stopped abruptly and vaguely wondered if she had somehow conjured the object of her thoughts. Mr. Darcy was not five feet directly in front of her path and she had not noticed. If she had continued, she would certainly have rammed right into him.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said with cool civility. "Forgive my inattention."

"Good morning," was what Mr. Darcy chose to reply with.

"I have come to see my sister," said Elizabeth after Mr. Darcy failed to elaborate.

"All this way?" Mr. Darcy asked incredulously. "On foot?"

Elizabeth bit back her savage reply, instead saying, "As you see."

Mr. Darcy quickly looked her up and down, then gestured for her to precede him back toward Netherfield.

Lizzy was greeted by each of the Bingley siblings. Mr. Bingley, as expected, was exceedingly pleased to have Lizzy in his home, and hoped she would find her sister in good health. Mrs. Hurst was polite, but not friendly. Miss Bingley was barely civil. She and Lizzy had never gotten on terribly well, but Lizzy had sensed a shift in the other woman's behavior since the party at Lucas Lodge.

Lizzy was immensely relieved to be rid of the Bingley party and shown to Jane, who was exceedingly pale and looked miserable.

"Oh, Lizzy, I am so glad you have come," Jane managed to croak, giving a sincere, if weak, smile.

"Of course I came!" said Lizzy, an impertinent smile gracing her face. "We are to leave in a mere week! I can't very well have you so ill it prevents us going."

Jane's smile widened, and then she turned her head and drifted into a fitful sleep.

Lizzy bustled about the room, happy to tend to Jane, but dearly wishing she was allowed to use her wand to do so. She would surely have Jane up and out of bed in a matter of minutes. As it was, when Lizzy returned downstairs, she was forced to acknowledge that Jane was not well and beg Mr. Bingley to continue to extend his hospitality to her sister.

When Mr. Bingley insisted that Lizzy stay, as well as Jane, Lizzy felt herself somewhat torn as she accepted. She was glad to be of use to her sister, but very much dreaded being under the same roof as Miss Bingley, the Hursts, and especially Mr. Darcy.

Lizzy penned a note home, asking Mary to pack her belongings. She included several key words to direct her sister as to which books to send on with her clothes. Before returning home for the summer, Lizzy had been sure to disguise several of her academic texts as various Muggle works, which would enable her to study freely at home. Ever since she and Jane had first gone to Hogwarts, they had agreed not to show one ounce of their magical knowledge at home, knowing it would only embitter their younger sisters and fearing their mother's loose tongue.

The next several days were agony for Lizzy. She hated seeing Jane in such a condition, though she was steadily improving. Lizzy was sure to carefully balance her time between caring for her sister and attending to her hosts. Several interesting conversations had occurred, including one where Lizzy had begun to argue with Mr. Darcy with such ferocity she was grateful she had left her wand tucked beside Jane, or she might have been tempted to whip it out.

Mr. Darcy, in addition to all his other less-than-amiable tendencies, displayed a level of observation and suspicion that made Lizzy truly grow anxious several days into her stay.

Elizabeth had been reading one of the many books Professor McGonagall had sent home with her to prepare for her animagus training when Mr. Darcy interrupted her concentration.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Darcy, I was lost in my book," Elizabeth had said. "What was it you said?

"That seems a rather thick volume for a copy of Macbeth," Mr. Darcy had said, gesturing to the title on the spine.

Elizabeth had felt some amount of panic strike her core. Her father, Jane, and Mary knew her deception, and so she had never feared their discovery. Her mother and youngest sisters were so unobservant they presented no threat whatsoever. Mr. Darcy, however, was an intelligent man, and would not be thrown off easily.

"Is it?" Elizabeth had come back with airily. "It is one of few that I have examined. I assumed it to just be a quirk of the publisher."

Mr. Darcy had seemed less than convinced, but had chosen not to press, which caused Elizabeth to release a good deal of tension from her shoulders.

When Jane was finally well enough to descend for dinner, Lizzy was ecstatic. The pair returned home the following morning, and Lizzy felt no shame in explaining to her sister the full extent of her relief.

"I did not make any truly _extra_ work for you, Lizzy, did I?" Jane asked anxiously in the carriage.

"I saw no signs of any accidental magic," Lizzy answered. "Of course you would weather illness without any excessive suffering, conscious or otherwise!"

Jane was pleased to return home to her family. Lizzy was pleased only so much in that she was no longer subject to the condescension of Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy.

* * *

"To think, Kitty and I shall have an entire week of the militia to ourselves, once they arrive!" Lydia exclaimed gleefully as she watched her older sisters flutter about, finishing last minute packing.

"Don't crow too loudly, Lydia," Lizzy chastised, "for we are not jealous, and you shall not be allowed to interact with them!"

"Papa cannot watch us always," Lydia argued, "and Mama will surely wish to entertain!"

Lizzy chose rummaging through a drawer over answering her younger sister. She was rather hopeful for the upcoming year. Lydia and Kitty would be removed from the influence of their mother, which could only work in their favor. The pair would have attentive adults to watch over them, in addition to their older sisters. Furthermore, Lizzy was hopeful the girls would be sorted into different Houses, and so be removed from even their own influence.

"Jane, can I put some of my gowns into your trunk?" Lizzy asked frustratedly after trying to close her trunk. "Mine aren't fitting."

"That's because you've got so many books," said Kitty, scrunching her nose in disgust.

"I can fit perhaps two," said Jane distractedly as she looked over her letter from her Head of House. "You'll have to ask Mary about the rest."

Lizzy knew Mary would be tighter on space than she was – Mary had her own cache of books to transport – and so she put two of her favorite gowns into Jane's trunk before hanging the other back up and sternly warning her youngest sisters against touching her belongings.

"We could bring your gowns for you, Lizzy," Kitty tried.

"Do _not_ touch my things," Lizzy insisted. "I will do well enough without them!"

"Jane! Lizzy!" Mary called from below stairs. "The carriage is here!"

Jane gave a slight yelp before pocketing her letter. "Oh, I hope I've managed to remember everything Professor Sprout asked me to bring!"

"Oh, my girls!" cried Mrs. Bennet when Jane and Lizzy appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "I think it ever so cruel you are not allowed to come home every night, for surely there exists such a way!"

Jane and Lizzy exchanged a quick glance. There were, indeed, multiple ways by which they might return home on a regular basis, but they chose not to go through the hassle. Besides having to get various permission forms taken care of and being continuously subjected to Mrs. Bennet's nerves, it would interfere with their studies.

The oldest Bennet daughters exchanged goodbyes with their mother, then their sisters, and finally their father as he handed them into the carriage.

"Be sure to write, on the rare occasion that you think of your poor papa," said Mr. Bennet with good humor as he shut the carriage door.

"Only if you promise to reply," said Lizzy cheekily.

Mr. Bennet chuckled, then nodded to the driver to head off.

Lizzy released a great sigh as she and her sister pulled away. "It feels so good to know we are finally on the way."

"Yes," said Jane noncommittally, staring out the window.

"You are not pining for Mr. Bingley, are you?" Lizzy asked teasingly.

Jane blushed furiously. "I am happy to be going back to Hogwarts," she said, "though I admit I will miss Mr. Bingley's conversation."

Lizzy laughed openly for almost the first time since returning to Longbourn. "Come, Jane! We are free of the Muggle constraints now. Speak plainly."

"If only he were also free of Muggle customs," Jane sighed. "Then we could write each other."

"Was it very difficult to say goodbye?" Lizzy asked with real concern.

"He is going away himself," Jane answered dully. "It seems we were not meant to be."

Lizzy was sad for her sister, but supposed it was a good thing Jane and Bingley had not become well and truly attached to each other, and that each would have their own supply of troubles to keep them from becoming distressed over their separation. In time, Lizzy was sure, Jane would meet someone else suited to her, and hopefully that someone would be a wizard.

The girls' journey continued at an easy pace, the pair completely comfortable as they went. As night was beginning to fall, they stopped at a coaching inn and paid for a room. Once night had truly settled and most of the clientele were asleep, Jane and Lizzy snuck out of their room and into a nearby wooded area, where another carriage was waiting for them.

"Ready, Miss Bennet and Miss Bennet?" asked a gruff, yet pleasantly familiar voice.

"As ready as always, Piper," Lizzy chirped. Piper was an older fellow, though still quite spry, that lived nearby and kept thestrals. Ever since the girls had first left for Hogwarts, Piper had seen to their transport to the gates of Hogwarts.

Jane pulled out her coin purse and paid Piper as she enquired after his family.

Piper updated Jane and Lizzy on his grandchildren as he loaded their trunks, then declared it was time to go.

Lizzy smiled as she stepped into the carriage. Small things such as entering and exiting a carriage of her own, autonomous power pleased her immensely. She did not possess much patience for the pomp and circumstance of the Muggle gentlemanly class.

Jane and Lizzy slept through most of their travel. The thestral-drawn carriage though air, while not entirely smooth, was a much better ride than the horse-drawn carriage on the rough roads of the ground. When the sun had risen and awoken the girls, they changed into more appropriate clothes, each happy to exchange all their layers for their less cumbersome Hogwarts robes.

Lizzy eagerly pressed her face to the carriage window as she felt the beginning of their descent. "What a sight for sore eyes," she said happily as Hogwarts came into view.

Almost as soon as the carriage touched the ground, Jane and Lizzy tumbled out of it. While Jane exchanged final pleasantries with Piper, Lizzy gave each of the thestrals an appreciative pat.

"Come along, Misses Bennet!" called a voice from the Hogwarts gates.

Lizzy turned her head and grinned at her Head of House. "Good morning, Professor McGonagall!"

"Good morning," McGonagall replied. "Quick now! There's much to be done." She flicked her wand. Jane and Lizzy's luggage disappeared. "Always good to see you, Piper."

"McGonagall," said Piper pleasantly, doffing his hat. He wished Jane and Lizzy luck before climbing back onto his carriage and taking to the sky.

"Miss Bennet, Professor Dumbledore is expecting you in his office," said McGonagall, turning from the gate and heading toward the castle. Jane and Lizzy easily fell into step with her. "Diggory's set to arrive in an hour. You and he will welcome the rest of the prefects when they arrive tomorrow."

Lizzy could not stop herself smiling as she crossed the grounds. She found herself impatient as Jane asked a few more questions of McGonagall. She was eager to receive orders, to feel of use. All summer long, she had felt more like her mother's plaything than a free-thinking young woman.

"Miss Elizabeth, you and I will have our first session after dinner. Until then, Madame Pince expects you in the library," McGonagall stated.

Lizzy's grin grew larger. Many students of Hogwarts feared and avoided the librarian, but Lizzy's easy manners and love for reading had endeared her to the woman, and so she was always welcome in the library and often helped restore and repair books.

"Day after tomorrow, our Beauxbatons transfers arrive," said McGonagall as she pushed open the door to the castle. "We professors will be busy testing their abilities and figuring out which classes they will best fit into. A week from today, the prefects will be escorting them to Diagon Alley. Miss Elizabeth, though you are not a prefect, I trust you will be able to keep yourself in check well enough to help with this excursion?"

Lizzy met her professor's half-stern, half-amused expression without fear. "Of course, Professor! When have I been anything less than an exemplary student?"

"Well, you have improved marginally since your sister was made a prefect," McGonagall conceded.

Jane and Lizzy exchanged amused glances around their professor. Lizzy was not a troublemaker, exactly, but she did often find herself in curious situations that were avoidable.

After being given a time for lunch, the girls gleefully went their separate ways: Jane to the headmaster's office and Lizzy to the library.

Lizzy enjoyed her time with Madame Pince immensely. When Lizzy left for dinner, Pince had been sure to send her off with several fascinating and often-sought books.

Dinner was a small, pleasant affair. Lizzy, Jane, and Silas Diggory, the Head Boy and a Ravenclaw, were the only students currently in the castle. They sat at a single table with several of their professors, exchanging anecdotes from the summer and discussing responsibilities and changes for the upcoming term.

After dinner, Lizzy followed McGonagall to her office, where the professor spent a full two hours quizzing Lizzy to determine her understanding of her assigned reading from the summer. When McGonagall dismissed her student, it was with a pleased smile.

The rest of the prefects arrived in time for dinner the following day. Lizzy again engaged in highly academic discussion with McGonagall, and then returned to her dormitory, where she was excessively glad to let loose with her housemates.

"Well, let's see it, Lizzy!" said Josephine Prewett almost as soon as Lizzy made it through the door. Josephine was one of Lizzy's roommates, in addition to the female prefect of their year in Gryffindor.

"See what, Jo?" Lizzy asked.

"Your Quidditch Captain's badge!" Josephine cried. "I can't imagine anyone else would have gotten it!"

Lizzy cracked a grin. "It's up in my room," she said. "I haven't even told Jane yet! I tried to forget about it most of the summer, or I would have spent my time planning drills instead of studying!"

"Mary knows, of course," said Zebulon Thomas somewhat sullenly. He was Josephine's counterpart.

"Would you care to check your tone, Zebulon?" Lizzy asked with false levity.

"I like Mary well enough," Zebulon defended. "I just don't think she needed to start delving into Legilimancy, is all."

"You're just upset because Mary wouldn't tell you whether Bernice Bode fancied you or not," Josephine said, brushing off Zebulon's negativity.

Lizzy smiled appreciatively at her friend. Conversation flowed much more easily between the classmates after that.

Lizzy was happy to stay secreted away in the library the next day. The Beauxbatons transfers would be arriving at various times, and Lizzy did not particularly care to see their first reactions to her beloved school.

About three generations back, some wizarding families of pure blood and great wealth began sending their children to Beauxbatons instead of Hogwarts with the excuse they wanted their children to be seen as just another student, rather than a member of a particular family. Lizzy found this excuse incredibly flimsy, and rather thought it was a way for the snobbiest of the British magical community to maintain their inflated egos and space between themselves and a "lower" class of witch and wizard. Now, with relations between Britain and France being rather unpredictable, many of these families were bringing their children back to British soil while the opportunity still existed.

"No dinner for you today, Bennet?" Madame Pince asked, coming to inspect Lizzy's latest work.

"I'm just working this delicate repair, Madame Pince," said Lizzy as an excuse. "I would hate to stop in the middle of it."

Madame Pince stared intently at Lizzy for a moment before the corners of her lips twitched. "Very well," she said. "I'll have a tray sent here, and you can get something down once you've come to a stopping point."

Lizzy thanked the librarian truthfully and set back to work. It did not take her long to finish her task, but as she sat down to eat at one of the library tables, she could not find it within herself to regret avoiding the Great Hall. Instead, she appreciated the rare moments of silence before heading to McGonagall's office.

"Miss Bennet," McGonagall greeted somewhat tiredly when Lizzy knocked and entered.

"Professor McGonagall," Lizzy politely replied as she took a seat. "How was the first day of assessing the transfers?"

"Interesting and taxing," McGonagall candidly replied. "Speaking of taxing, Madame Pince must have had you _very_ busy today," she said knowingly.

Lizzy had the sense to blush. "I just didn't want to deal with them yet, Professor," she said quietly.

"You'd best get over it, Miss Bennet," said McGonagall pragmatically. "They're not going anywhere and alienating them won't do anyone any good."

Lizzy sighed slightly as she acknowledged the truth of her professor's assessment and then promised she would not avoid the transfers any further.

The pair had hardly started their academic discourse when a knock sounded.

McGonagall's lips thinned slightly. Lizzy supposed her professor to be annoyed with being interrupted. She felt the same way. Nonetheless, McGonagall invited whoever had knocked to enter.

"Professor McGonagall, I hope I am not causing you too much of an inconvenience!" Professor Flitwick greeted with both joviality and contrition. "I had thought I might ask a favor of our shared student."

"I suppose a single delay will not upset the timeline I've set up," said McGonagall. "She's yours to command."

Lizzy smiled at Flitwick. She had spent a good amount of time the year previously studying dueling with him. "Good evening, Professor! What can I do for you?"

"I've a transfer that's expressed interest in dueling. I had hoped you might be willing to go a few bouts with him so I could assess his skill level," said Flitwick.

Lizzy looked back to McGonagall, trying to squash any pleading that might be showing in her eyes. She so longed to engage in a duel after months of playing at being a perfect lady, though she would respect whatever decision McGonagall made. Afterall, she was only at Hogwarts early by McGonagall's design.

McGonagall rose from her seat. "I confess to being eager to see Miss Bennet's progress," she said, heading for the door.

"Excellent!" Flitwick exclaimed.

Lizzy popped out of her chair and rushed into the hall, where she stopped cold in her tracks and felt her joy instantaneously evaporate.

"Miss Elizabeth Bennet, this is – "

"Mr. Darcy and I are already acquainted," Elizabeth said coldly, interrupting Flitwick's introduction.

By the hard set of his eyes, Mr. Darcy seemed no more pleased to see Elizabeth than she was to see him.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Yay for two chapters on the first day the story is available!

But for real. Please review and let me know what you think so far! Have a fabulous, fabulous day, my lovelies!


	3. Chapter 3

Elizabeth could feel the mild curiosity of her professors as she preceded them out to the grounds with Mr. Darcy. She was usually so pleasant with anyone she came across that her harsh manner of greeting him could not have escaped her mentors' attention. Thankfully, McGonagall and Flitwick possessed infinite amounts of tact, which they could readily employ whenever they so chose. Elizabeth was grateful for their skill. She did not care to think of the responses her own parents would have had, had she been at home and acting in such a way.

Mr. Darcy did not say a single word all the way down to the grounds, which suited Elizabeth just fine. As soon as the group made it a good distance from the main doors, Elizabeth split off with McGonagall while Mr. Darcy went with Flitwick.

"Does Mr. Darcy come with anyone else?" Elizabeth asked her professor coolly, eager to distract herself as she saw Mr. Darcy beginning to speak earnestly with Flitwick.

"A friend and his sister," McGonagall answered.

Elizabeth wondered whether that friend could be Mr. Bingley, but was distracted from asking as Flitwick burst into laughter.

"You've no need to fear injuring Miss Bennet, if that is your concern, Mr. Darcy!" Flitwick said, wiping a tear from his eye. He waved off whatever reply Mr. Darcy was beginning to make and started for the center point between the two students.

Elizabeth felt her blood begin to grow hot as McGonagall walked away from her and she glared at Mr. Darcy, who was wearing a scowl. So he was afraid of hurting her, was he? Well, Elizabeth certainly planned to show the high-and-mighty Mr. Darcy that she was no delicate flower, unlike whatever young women he might have been exposed to at Beauxbatons! If Elizabeth were to be compared to any kind of plant at the moment, she thought the Venomous Tentacula might be appropriate.

"On my mark, you may begin to engage," Flitwick announced. "Standard competition rules apply. I shall intervene if I find it necessary."

Elizabeth drew her wand from her pocket and waited with bated breath until Flitwick finally called "Go!" She attacked without a single second of hesitation. Elizabeth was, of course, eager to make Flitwick proud, but she also felt a great desire to put Mr. Darcy in his proper place – to show him that all his wealth meant nothing within the boundaries of Hogwarts.

Far too soon, Elizabeth held Mr. Darcy's wand in her hand. Absolutely furious, she strode toward him until she was within an inch of his face. "You did not give that your best effort, sir!" she accused hotly.

"I am not in the habit of dueling women!" Mr. Darcy snarled back.

Elizabeth was certain her face was an unflattering shade of red, such was the rage she felt. "Again!" she demanded, shoving Mr. Darcy's wand into his chest. "And don't hold back this time, or I'll be sure to throw you flat on your back!"

Mr. Darcy took his wand and continued to stare at Elizabeth as she turned her back and stomped away from him to the required starting distance.

Elizabeth knew her professors were exchanging loaded looks, but she pointedly avoided glancing at them. Instead, she chose to focus her attention on Mr. Darcy, sizing him up and calculating where his weaknesses might be.

When Flitwick signaled the beginning of the duel again, Elizabeth attacked with more fervor than before. Her fury grew even further as Mr. Darcy continually deflected her attacks, refusing to go on the offensive.

"Is that all?" Elizabeth shouted. It was the first verbalization since the duel had started. Her attack spells and Mr. Darcy's defense spells had all been done silently. "You can't expect to win on the defensive!"

Mr. Darcy said nothing. In fact, he did not move, save a very slight twitching of his lips.

Elizabeth barely managed to cast a Shield Charm before Mr. Darcy's Stunner would have caught her full in the chest.

"As before, Miss Bennet," said Mr. Darcy with a smug calmness, "you willfully misunderstand others."

Elizabeth barely refrained from snarling viciously as she launched another attack. She was gratified, however, by the fact that she was now having to counter Mr. Darcy's offensive spells. As he was no longer holding back, Elizabeth felt able to truly focus on the purpose of the duel. In fact, she lost track of what time passed before a barrier appeared between her and Mr. Darcy.

Chest heaving from exertion, Elizabeth looked around her to observe the damage. Several spots of grass had burned away, and there were shards of glass in a ring around her professors; they had clearly erected a shield to protect themselves from the projectiles. Elizabeth next looked at her own person. She sported marks from a strong Stinging Hex on her wand wrist, and her robes had an impressive tear in the skirt.

Once Elizabeth had pocketed her wand, the barrier between herself and Mr. Darcy disappeared.

"Very well done!" said Flitwick. "Well done and well matched!"

With the barrier gone, Elizabeth was able to observe how Mr. Darcy fared. He had a cut on his cheek and one of his sleeves was singed. She felt smug satisfaction at seeing the blood dripping down his face. Mr. Darcy, despite what he might think, bled like any other mortal.

"Miss Bennet, we shall have to schedule another lesson or two soon," said Flitwick as he began waving his wand to repair the damage to the grounds. "You're beginning to expose your left side too much again."

Elizabeth put a hand to her left ribs and nearly gasped. Flitwick spoke correctly. She had left the area undefended at some point and was now almost certainly sporting a rapidly darkening bruise.

"Come along, Mr. Darcy," Flitwick coached, pocketing his wand. "I think I've got a good idea of what to do with you now."

As Flitwick led Mr. Darcy back toward the castle, Lizzy stepped to McGonagall. "Shall we resume our conversation, Professor?"

"I think not, Miss Bennet," said McGonagall, looking her student over and raising her eyebrow. "I shall find a way for us to meet for an hour after lunch tomorrow, to make up some time. For now, clean yourself up and rest. You've certainly earned it."

Lizzy was unsurprised to find Jane waiting for her in the entrance hall. "You saw," she stated.

"I saw," Jane confirmed, frowning. "I don't think I shall ever understand why you enjoy dueling so much, Lizzy! Come along, let's get you healed up."

Lizzy allowed Jane to take her by the hand and lead her into an unused classroom. She sat on a desk and obeyed Jane's directives without complaint. Lizzy excelled at gaining injuries while Jane excelled at healing them; one of the many ways the sisters complimented each other.

"I suspect you knew Mr. Darcy was here before I did?" Lizzy asked finally.

"Had you made it to dinner, you would have known," said Jane, coming as close to sounding disapproving as she was capable of.

Lizzy hissed as Jane's wand pressed into her hexed wrist. "McGonagall said he came with a friend and his sister."

Jane smiled and made quick work of Lizzy's wrist before turning in a circle excitedly. "Oh, Lizzy! Mr. Bingley is one of the transfers! Imagine my surprise when he arrived!"

Lizzy laughed lightly. "I'm sure it was a sight. Even Mary might have smiled at your thoughts!" As Jane gushed a few moments longer, Lizzy found herself feeling immense relief with the knowledge that Mr. Bingley was, in fact, a wizard. So long as the affection on both sides was true, Lizzy now had no reservations whatsoever for Jane's burgeoning relationship.

"And to think," Lizzy said, a mischievous grin lighting up her features when Jane paused in her speech, "you shall get to know each other without Mama attempting to help things along."

"Lizzy!" Jane chastised, though she undercut her authority by laughing.

Once healed to the best of Jane's considerable abilities, Lizzy bade her sister good night and returned to her dormitory.

"How was day one of settling in the transfers?" Lizzy asked, pulling up a chair next to the chessboard at which sat Josephine and Zebulon.

"It went well, I think," said Zebulon without taking his eyes off the board. "We didn't do anything too strenuous."

"We hardly did anything at all," Josephine added. "The professors are still figuring all of them out. We had most of the day to ourselves, really."

"You should have come to see me in the library," Lizzy said with an exaggerated pout.

Zebulon laughed heartily. "I'll let you have Pince all to yourself, thanks!"

Lizzy smirked at her classmate, then whispered to Josephine.

A wicked smile spread across Josephine's face. She waited until Zebulon's discomfort became clear, then directed her piece. "Checkmate."

Zebulon threw his weight back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Not fair, Lizzy!"

Lizzy grinned unapologetically. "Would either of you be interested in going to the Quidditch pitch tomorrow?"

"I could do with some flying," said Zebulon, his anger quickly abandoned. "Albert would want to join, I'm sure."

Lizzy shrugged. "Invite whoever you want. I just miss my broom."

"I might come down to the pitch to heckle you for a bit," said Josephine, "but I think I'll keep my feet firmly planted on the ground, thank you very much."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "I don't think I'll ever understand you, Jo."

"You, the great studier of characters, giving up on me?" Josephine asked dramatically. "This shall be the gossip of the week!"

"Do not speak to me of gossip," Lizzy said with a small huff. "I've had my fill from my mother and youngest sisters."

"Oh, come now," Josephine chided, "they can't be _that_ bad."

"Just you wait a few more weeks until Kitty and Lydia get here," Lizzy replied. "You'll see I do not exaggerate."

"At least not in this instance," said Zebulon with a smirk.

Lizzy's response was to reset the chessboard with a flick of her wand and proceed to thoroughly trounce Zebulon.

* * *

Lizzy spent the next morning in the library again, though was informed she should report to Professor Burbage in the afternoon. Lizzy was quick to locate the Muggle Studies professor and request a delay to starting her responsibilities to spend some time on her broom. Burbage readily granted permission, and so Lizzy arranged with her friends to head to the Quidditch pitch as soon as lunch was over.

"Is this a strategy to size me up before the term starts, Bennet?" asked Albert Bentham, broom swung over his shoulder as he met Lizzy near the main doors. Albert was the team captain for Hufflepuff.

"I don't need to size you up, Bentham," said Lizzy archly. "I am already well aware of your weaknesses I can prey upon to secure my victory."

"There are certainly many to choose from," said Albert's younger brother, Aaron, as he joined.

"Why Sprout made you a prefect, Aaron, I shall never understand!" said Albert, clearly annoyed.

Aaron grinned cheekily. "And you thought you could escape me for a few weeks."

Lizzy laughed at the brothers' exchange. "Let's head out, shall we? I know Zebulon is coming, but he tends to run on his own schedule."

"He'll be along," said Albert, stepping into the sun with his brother and Lizzy. "He'll be bringing a few of the transfers."

Before Lizzy could ask which transfers, she was distracted by Leah, a Ravenclaw prefect, asking them to let her catch up.

"Ah, the wind blowing through your hair, the ground far below you – there's just nothing like it, is there, Bennet?" Albert asked after taking to the air.

"It's an experience that can only be bested by beating you in a game, Bentham," Lizzy teased.

"No longer exchanging niceties, are we?" Albert asked with a raised brow. "Very well. So be it." He dove back toward the ground, released a set of Bludgers, and grabbed his Beater's bat and the Quaffle before returning to Lizzy. "Let's get right down to business then, shall we?"

"Fine, but Aaron is on my team," said Lizzy.

"You can have him," said Albert eagerly. "Oi! Leah! You're playing with me."

Leah nodded and set herself appropriately.

"Grab a bat, Aaron!" Lizzy called to her teammate. Aaron hastily obeyed and, after a quick discussion of rules, the four began their game.

Lizzy felt completely relaxed and herself for the first time in months as she wove, ducked, dove, and threw. Her walks kept her from losing her sanity when she was home, but on her broom was where she longed to be. As with many other things in the magical world, Lizzy took great pride and joy in doing things that Muggle women would not be allowed to do without serious repercussions, such as competitive sports.

Lizzy's attention was diverted from the scrimmage by a familiar voice shouting out from the ground.

"Foul on Albert for being a git!" called Zebulon, his hands cupped over his face. He easily dodged the Bludger Albert sent his way.

Lizzy headed toward the ground with Leah and the Benthams. She was in such a good mood, even the sight of Mr. Darcy among the group Zebulon had brought with him did not dampen her spirits.

"Miss Bennet, I was not aware you were such a flier!" said Mr. Bingley pleasantly.

"And I was unaware you possessed any magical capabilities whatsoever, Mr. Bingley!" Lizzy came back with.

"None of this 'Mr.' and 'Miss' nonsense," Zebulon declared firmly. "You're not with the Muggles anymore. Bingley, call her Lizzy or Bennet. Don't waste your breath with extra syllables."

"You already know each other?" Leah asked, looking between Lizzy and Bingley.

"Oh, yes," said Lizzy. "Bingley leased a house neighboring my father's estate. We were quite on our way to becoming friends before we left. How were we to know we would be meeting again days later? It's quite the amusing tale."

"I was so utterly delighted to see your sister last night at dinner," said Bingley genuinely. "What a merry party we shall all be!"

"Alright, enough chit chat," said Albert, stepping between the pair. "Who do you want, Bennet?"

"Who's gone and made you king of the pitch?" Leah asked testily.

"Bennet and I are captains," Albert defended. "Seems only right."

"Term hasn't started yet, Bentham, so forgive me for not falling at your feet," said Zebulon, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"We'll draw straws," Leah declared. With a wave of her wand, she conjured a stick for each person present, singed the bottoms of half of them, then concealed the burns in her palm and held her fist out to her fellow students.

Lizzy grabbed an unburned straw. Before much longer, the large group split into two smaller ones. Lizzy had with her Leah, Bingley, Albert, a new prefect from Slytherin, a transfer that introduced herself as Cynthia, and Mr. Darcy.

"This is perfect," said Albert, rubbing his palms together. "We've got a full team right here! I'm a Beater, Bennet's a Chaser. What about the rest of you?"

Leah volunteered as Keeper, Bingley and Cynthia as Chasers, and the Slytherin prefect gladly took up the other Beater's bat.

"Alright with being Seeker, Darcy?" Albert asked.

"Quite fine, I assure you," said Mr. Darcy stiffly.

Lizzy exhaled heavily through her nose at Mr. Darcy's continued poor manners, but satisfied herself with the knowledge that he would be well out of her way throughout the scrimmage. She would hardly need concern herself with him at all.

Just as both teams were getting ready to take to the sky to begin their match, Jane entered the pitch with Caroline Bingley.

"Jane, perfect!" Leah cried. "You can keep score for us!"

"We came only to observe," Caroline stated, her nose slightly upturned.

Lizzy refrained from rolling her eyes with great difficulty. A mere half week of separation from Caroline Bingley was not nearly enough.

"I would be happy to track the score for you," Jane replied with her classic serene smile.

"Good," said Zebulon with a nod, "now Albert can't cheat."

"I don't need to cheat to beat the likes of you, Zebulon," Albert snorted.

"Come now, let's let the playing do the talking!" Bingley suggested before kicking off into the air.

Lizzy found herself quite pleased with how well she was able to work together with Bingley and Cynthia. Well over forty minutes had gone by, and her team was up by several points, when everyone was halted by McGonagall's sharp tones.

"Elizabeth Bennet!"

Lizzy cringed on her broom and shut her eyes tightly. After a moment, she opened one eye to see Zebulon smirking powerfully at her. She slowly turned her broom. "Professor McGonagall?" she called back.

McGonagall only extended a finger, beckoning her student to the ground.

Lizzy quickly obeyed, landing and dismounting before her professor. "I checked with Madame Pince and Professor Burbage before coming here, Professor, honestly!"

"I'm aware, Miss Bennet," said McGonagall. "Hagrid's got an injured hippogriff. Since you are here and available, I informed him you would assist."

Lizzy refrained from sighing. She liked Hagrid and would normally jump at the opportunity to work with a hippogriff, but she had so been enjoying her game!

"Does this mean Lizzy's team forfeits?" asked Zebulon. He and the other players had landed as well, realizing once they paused how very welcome a break would be.

"I'm sure the elder Mr. Bentham can devise a way to keep the game going, Mr. Thomas," said McGonagall drily.

"If I may, Professor," said Mr. Darcy, causing Elizabeth's shoulders to tense in unhappy anticipation, "I would like to volunteer to assist Mr. Hagrid as well. I find hippogriffs to be fascinating, and have been hoping for an opportunity to study them further."

"I think Hagrid would be pleased with the sentiment, Mr. Darcy," said McGonagall. "Miss Elizabeth, show him to Hagrid's, please. Carry on!" she added, turning and striding away from the pitch.

"What a disadvantage you have now, Albert, down a Chaser and your Seeker!" said Aaron with false sympathy.

Albert shoved his brother away from himself. "Alright, we'll nix the Seekers, and someone's got to jump over to this team."

"Come along, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth tightly, walking away from the brewing fight. She had been about to swing her broom over her shoulder and stomp the entire way to Hagrid's, but thought better of it. If she were to fly, instead, she would spend that much less time in Mr. Darcy's company. "I trust you are not opposed to a bit more time on your broom?" she asked, already mounting hers. She had kicked into the air before he even had a chance to reply.

Mr. Darcy lost no time in getting onto his broom and joining Elizabeth in the air.

Elizabeth flattened herself on her broom, eager to make it to Hagrid's and be done with the whole business as soon as may be. She found herself more irritated than she would care to admit when she looked to her side to see Darcy easily keeping pace with her. His broom, she supposed, was of the highest quality and latest model. If she were not determined to keep from further inflaming his pride, she might have asked after it.

"Tha' was fast, Beth," said Hagrid when Elizabeth landed by his door where he was knitting away.

Elizabeth momentarily forgot her less-than-enjoyable companion in light of seeing Hagrid for the first time in months. "Good afternoon, Hagrid!"

"All smiles and pleasantries now, Beth? Been here days," said Hagrid. His attempt at sounding wounded was undercut by the twinkle in his eyes.

Lizzy smiled at the man before her. She appreciated his honesty and his passion for caring for any and all creatures that came across his path. He alone called her Beth, and she allowed it as she knew it to be a sign of his genuine affection for her.

"Come now, Hagrid," Lizzy teased. "How could you expect me to come to the very edges of this harsh wilderness when the splendor of the castle was before me?"

Hagrid guffawed. "I reckon yeh only had a day or two more in yeh before yeh ran screamin' fer the trees."

Lizzy grinned. "Once the term actually starts, I just might," she admitted. "I can hardly resist the adventures within."

"Is there not an ailing hippogriff to attend?"

Elizabeth whipped her head around to glare at Mr. Darcy. Upset though she was, she was determined to be civil. "Hagrid, this is Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy, this is Hagrid, our groundskeeper and professor for Care of Magical Creatures."

"Darcy, eh?" said Hagrid, looking the young man over keenly. "Heard a lot abou' yer family."

Mr. Darcy cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. "The hippogriff?" he prompted.

Hagrid finally rose from his seat on his front steps. As he did, his massive boarhound suddenly appeared, barreling around the side of the house and distracting Elizabeth from pondering Mr. Darcy's reluctance.

"Fang!" Elizabeth cried, patting her knees. "Here, boy!"

Fang abruptly changed paths, abandoning his intent of his master for Elizabeth. He received her welcome, then looked past her. The boarhound cautiously approached Darcy and sniffed him only a moment before turning away and resuming his spot at Elizabeth's side.

Elizabeth found herself gratified that Fang seemed to agree with her assessment of Mr. Darcy.

"Cleverclaw's gone and gotten himself into a figh' with a unicorn, by the look o' things," said Hagrid, leading Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy toward the forest.

"Whatever would possess him to do such a thing?" Elizabeth asked.

"Perhaps the unicorn had a foal nearby," Mr. Darcy suggested. "It might not have been the hippogriff that instigated the fight."

"Tha's possible," said Hagrid. "Cleverclaw's been a bit unobservant lately. Think he migh' have his eye on a new female."

Elizabeth smiled. "Do you think he might have been trying to woo his lady love by bringing her an offering of the choicest unicorn meat?" she asked. "Or was he simply lost in thought over her fine feathers?"

Hagrid guffawed. "Coul' have been either, idiot tha' he is."

Elizabeth's amusement at the creature's expense was exhausted upon laying eyes on him. Cleverclaw lay in a clearing, his hind leg obviously grievously injured, though he shifted a wing as the group entered as though attempting to hide it.

Elizabeth fearlessly approached the wounded animal without blinking. She bowed respectfully, and it was not long before Cleverclaw returned the gesture as best as he was able.

"What is it you need me to do, Hagrid?" Elizabeth asked, running her hand along Cleverclaw's side as she made her way toward his leg, even as Hagrid and he exchanged bows.

"Need you ter keep him calm," said Hagrid, joining Elizabeth at Cleverclaw's back end.

Elizabeth was surprised at how quickly Mr. Darcy joined them. His exchange with Cleverclaw must have been very fast, indeed.

"I've seen these kinds of wounds before," said Mr. Darcy, inspecting the damage. "Perhaps you would allow me to attend to it."

"Mighty kind of yeh, Darcy," said Hagrid, slapping the young man's back. Mr. Darcy very nearly stumbled forward from the unintended force of the gesture. "Have many unicorns at Pemberly, do yeh?"

"We have a few that live on the grounds," said Mr. Darcy, now looking at Hagrid somewhat warily.

"Well yeh can certainly help," said Hagrid, "but when it comes ter hippogriffs, it's best I take lead on these things." He turned to Elizabeth before Mr. Darcy might reply, and so he missed the flash of surprise that crossed Mr. Darcy's face. "Start now, Beth."

Elizabeth abandoned her pleasure at Mr. Darcy being denied by Hagrid, instead focusing on Cleverclaw before her. "You silly, lovestruck fool," she said to the creature, beginning to stroke his head. "It might do you well to simply approach your lady, instead of fluttering about trying to impress her. I would hope this whole ordeal has taught you a lesson."

Cleverclaw turned his head so one of his eyes was directly before Elizabeth's face.

"You mean to intimidate me, sir," she said laughingly. "My courage always rises with every attempt at such! You may glare all you wish. It will not keep me from my firm resolution to think your actions utterly ridiculous."

Cleverclaw seemed to sigh, if it were possible for hippogriffs to do such, and then returned his head to a position that made it easier for Elizabeth to continue stroking him.

Several minutes passed in which Cleverclaw seemed satisfied with all the goings-on around him before his head snapped up and he released a screech.

Elizabeth could only assume Hagrid and Mr. Darcy had begun their work in earnest, and so she quickly reached up and grabbed hold of Cleverclaw's beak before he could act upon instinct and remove a limb or two.

Elizabeth quickly began muttering soothing words to Cleverclaw as he made to escape her grasp several times. Each time, she gently redirected his head to keep him from turning round. She heard Hagrid swear and nearly lost her hold on Cleverclaw, so badly did he twitch. Desperate to bring him back to equilibrium, she began singing a familiar lullaby to great success.

"Tha'll do," said Hagrid, slightly out of breath. He stepped back, Mr. Darcy with him. "Grateful as always, Beth. Yeh can get back ter yer business."

Elizabeth gave Cleverclaw a few more strokes on his head before bidding Hagrid goodbye. She began heading back toward the castle. As Mr. Darcy fell in step beside her, the anger from which she had been distracted by her task returned. Any pleasure in a job well done dissipated.

At the edge of the forest, Fang greeted Elizabeth with a gleeful bark around a large stick in his mouth.

"Does he mean to play fetch?" Mr. Darcy asked.

Elizabeth glanced sideways at Mr. Darcy, noting the scowl on his face. It was not a new sight, but that did not make it any more welcome. Certain the indulging Fang would further affect Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth grabbed the slobbery stick and threw it with all her might.

Fang, utterly delighted, bounded after his target with many an excited bark.

"Is that answer enough, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked archly. "I am certain it was Fang's intent to chase after that stick, though I cannot say whether or not fetch was his original plan. He's rather a fickle creature and is just as likely to lay down and chew his target to splinters as he is to bring it back to me for another round."

"You often engage in such antics?" Mr. Darcy asked.

"And if I do?" Elizabeth challenged.

Mr. Darcy made no verbal reply, but his stony expression said plenty to Elizabeth.

"All right, Bennet?" called a voice across the grounds. "Gryffindor would mourn the loss of a limb or two of yours, I'm sure, but I don't think I could have cause to regret it!"

Elizabeth turned and grinned wickedly at Albert Bentham leading the group of Quidditch players back to the castle. "You have no such luck, Albert! In fact, I rather think Cleverclaw might lend me his wings in our next Quidditch match!"

"Wouldn't that be a fine sight?" said Zebulon as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy moved quickly to join the group. "All of Gryffindor team, riding into battle on such steeds! Of course, Hufflepuff would be allowed their own mounts. Perhaps we can find some sort of mutated badger that might serve. Not nearly so majestic, I'll admit, but it seems fitting."

"I'll have you know that badgers are perfectly terrifying when provoked," said Albert haughtily.

"Zebulon, Albert, might we go into dinner?" asked Jane, politely but with a certain firmness.

"If you insist, oh great Head Girl," said Albert with a mixture of respect and teasing. He offered her his arm as he might have in the Muggle world, causing Jane to roll her eyes good naturedly, even as she accepted.

Miss Bingley was quick to find an excuse to latch onto Mr. Darcy's arm. Elizabeth was only too glad to be rid of him. "How did things turn out?" she asked Zebulon. The pair were joined by Mr. Bingley, and neither objected.

"With you gone, Albert led his team to a splendid failure," said Zebulon.

"It wasn't so very splendid," said Mr. Bingley. "There was a mere forty point difference when we decided to call quits."

"Any failure of Albert's is a splendid one, for it is always so delightful for me to see him lose," Zebulon replied.

"Zebulon will have you believe he despises Albert," said Lizzy to Mr. Bingley. "I would not believe a single word of it, if I were you. No matter what he might say, Zebulon is excessively fond of Albert and would tear anyone who slights him to shreds."

"I'll thank you not to bandy my own feelings about, woman," Zebulon growled.

Lizzy threw her head back and laughed. She was quickly joined by Zebulon and then Mr. Bingley, once he realized all was done in good fun.

At dinner, Lizzy noticed a boy with pale blonde hair for the first time. Obviously, he was a transfer. He did not say much, but she felt he was observing all around him very keenly and calculatingly. When Mr. Darcy and he exchanged basic pleasantries, her opinion of him was decided.

"Ursus Malfoy," said Zebulon lowly as he and Lizzy sat down next to Josephine. "He seems a quiet sort."

"His family's very well connected," Josephine offered. "I don't think he's pleased to be here."

"Small wonder, then, that Mr. Darcy seems friendly with him," said Lizzy lightly as she settled her napkin in her lap.

Josephine and Zebulon exchanged a look, unseen by Lizzy, before they abandoned the topic very purposefully. It had not taken them long at all to discover Lizzy's disdain for Mr. Darcy, and they were well aware of their friend's temper. Charged as they were with seeing to the comfort of their new fellows, the pair were determined to try to smooth things over, or at least avoid any outright animosity.

After dinner, Lizzy went to McGonagall's office. A great deal was covered and Lizzy was thrilled to begin to delve into the specifics of becoming an animagus, rather than speaking in general terms. Her mind was reeling when she returned to her dormitory. Indeed, her thoughts were so occupied with her studies that she forgot to reflect on how upset she was for Mr. Darcy intruding on her time with Hagrid.

Across the castle, in an old classroom that had been converted into a temporary dormitory, Mr. Darcy's mind was also greatly occupied. Unlike Elizabeth, however, his thoughts were focused_ exclusively_ on the time he had spent in the forest. Without conscious thought, he began quietly humming a lullaby he would never hear quite the same way again.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Thanks to those that have reviewed so far! I hope everyone continues to enjoy the story. Let me know what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

The day for taking the transfers to Diagon Alley had arrived, and Lizzy found herself less than pleased with who she and Jane had been made responsible for.

"This shall be a merry party!" Mr. Bingley declared in the entrance hall, approaching the Bennet sisters while escorting his own.

Lizzy was able to smile at Mr. Bingley genuinely, but her smile took on a decidedly forced air when her eyes turned to Miss Bingley. In the past days, Miss Bingley had done nothing to endear herself to Lizzy, or to any person at Hogwarts. Rarely did she open her mouth without comparing Hogwarts to Beauxbatons, and Hogwarts always seemed to be lacking.

"Surely we could go about Diagon Alley on our own, Charles?" Miss Bingley asked. "I'm sure Miss Bennet and Miss Eliza have better things to do than attend us."

Lizzy rather agreed. She did have better things to do than listen to Miss Bingley whine and complain for the next several hours, and especially better than hearing herself referred to as "Eliza" for the day. Lizzy positively detested the shortened version of her name.

"I am sure you are familiar enough with Diagon Alley, Miss Bingley, but Jane and I do have a better understanding of the exacting standards of our professors, and can make sure you get precisely what is required for their classes," Lizzy managed to say diplomatically.

Mr. Darcy joined the group, greeting everyone civilly, if not pleasantly.

Elizabeth only barely refrained from huffing at Mr. Darcy's arrival. To say she was irritated was an understatement. Technically, Jane was responsible for the Bingleys and she had been made responsible for Mr. Darcy. Why her professors had believed that to be a good idea, she knew not. Regardless, she would carry out her duty, which would be made more tolerable by the fact that she could stay with Jane without arousing any suspicions.

Jane led the way to one of several fireplaces lit especially for the day's trip.

"Surely we are not travelling by _floo powder_?" Miss Bingley asked, clearly offended.

"I assure you the shopkeepers will think nothing less of you for having a spot or two of ash on your robes, Miss Bingley," said Elizabeth drily. She strode forward, took a pinch of powder, threw it into the flames, and disappeared.

Lizzy grinned as she took in the sights before her, pleased for a moment by herself to absorb the grandeur of Diagon Alley. She was pulled from her happy reflection by Mr. Darcy coming out the grate behind her.

"Where should we be off to first, Miss Elizabeth?" Mr. Darcy asked.

"I thought we might consult the rest of our party before making a decision, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth coolly replied. She turned to the grate and waited, arms crossed, as Mr. Bingley, then Miss Bingley, and finally Jane came through.

Miss Bingley delayed the group's progress for a full five minutes, insisting on beating _all _the ash out of her clothes before proceeding.

"I should hardly think we need make a set plan of attack for today," said Mr. Bingley cheerily when the question was raised. "I suggest we simply begin walking. We have no set time that we are required to return. We will come across all that we require through our wanderings, I am sure."

Elizabeth would normally have agreed with Mr. Bingley's plan, but was eager to be rid of the company of Miss Bingley and Mr. Darcy, and so wished to employ some amount of strategy. Before she could find a way to say as much diplomatically, Mr. Darcy agreed to Mr. Bingley's scheme. Jane said she had no objection, and so the group set off at a leisurely pace down the street.

Before long, Mr. Bingley offered his arm to Jane and Miss Bingley attached herself to Mr. Darcy, leaving Elizabeth trailing slightly behind the group on her own. When Mr. Darcy attempted to offer his other arm, Elizabeth declined, stating the busy street as her excuse.

In the Muggle world, Elizabeth might have felt slighted and concerned at being left by herself, clearly the odd one out of the group. In Diagon Alley, however, she felt no such scruples. She cheerily greeted those she knew as she followed the two pairs before her and held her head high. Why should she care she was on her own? She had no need of another person to see to her needs, be it long or short term. The magical world provided her the freedom and independence she so desired.

Though it was the group's intention to wander aimlessly from shop to shop, they agreed they should at least purposefully visit one place before any other – Gringotts.

Upon setting foot into the bank, the party split into three groups. Mr. Bingley and his sister were seen to by one goblin and escorted off to their moderate vault. Mr. Darcy, to Elizabeth's surprise, was greeted by name and returned the greeting. He then was whisked away to his family's vault. Elizabeth could only suppose it to be very grand and deep, welcomed as he was by the usually caustic goblins.

Lizzy and Jane hardly took any time gathering their funds. When they had first gone to Diagon Alley, before beginning their first year, they had created a joint account. Every year they used the funds provided by their father wisely, and so were able to store some extra money away to gather interest. In the past two years, Jane had started earning some extra coin by doing work in the hospital wing for Madam Pomfrey. She made various potions and occasionally sat watch overnight with particularly needy cases. Lizzy contributed to the growth of the account as well, often tutoring other students and, though it was kept very quiet, helping Hagrid with the occasional forest incident.

"With all that we've saved, Lizzy, perhaps we might treat Kitty and Lydia to _new_ robes," Jane suggested with a smile.

"Certainly not," Lizzy flatly refused. "They shall have second-hand, just as we did. They'll hit growth spurts soon enough, and I'll not see our hard-earned money wasted on their frivolity."

Jane sighed. "I wish you would give them some credit, Lizzy."

"When they prove they are capable of sense, I shall give them some credit, and not before," said Lizzy unapologetically. "We agreed long ago that, when the time came, we would not spoil them as our parents have done. Kitty and Lydia will be made to show themselves as reasonable, polite, and hard working. Once they recognize the value of what they already have been gifted, instead of always crying for more, I will consider getting them something that is truly _new_."

Jane looked as though she might make a reply, but instead pursed her lips and grabbed a fistful of coins. She knew better than to try to argue with Lizzy when her mind was so decided. In the long run, she supposed, it would be best for Kitty and Lydia to begin as she and Lizzy had done.

Lizzy and Jane soon joined Mr. Bingley and his sister in the lobby. It was another fifteen minutes, at least, before Mr. Darcy emerged from the vaults.

"Shall we pop into the apothecary?" Mr. Bingley asked as the group began moving through the streets once more. "I'm in need of a new cauldron."

Elizabeth readily agreed.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Lizzy Bennet!" exclaimed a voice that had become familiar when the group entered the shop.

"Mrs. Thomas!" Lizzy greeted, a grin on her face. "How good to see you!"

"Have you been keeping Zebulon in line this past week?" Mrs. Thomas asked. She, along with her husband, ran the most successful and well-stocked apothecary in Diagon Alley.

"Your son has been mostly well-behaved, I assure you," Lizzy answered.

"Only mostly?" Mrs. Thomas asked with a quirked brow.

"Must you always feed my mother a bunch of lies, Lizzy?" asked Zebulon, having just entered the shop with his own transfer.

"I've never lied to your mother, Zebulon," said Lizzy, raising her chin slightly. "I respect her far too much."

"And how deserving of that respect she is," said Zebulon, kissing his mother on the cheek affectionately.

Mrs. Thomas smiled at her son appreciatively. "Go along to the back, the lot of you. Zechariah has set aside some things especially for you."

Zebulon led the way, happily chatting away to the transfers about various aspects of the shop.

Elizabeth found her pleasure at being in the Thomas's shop reduced when she was squished beside Mr. Darcy as everyone made their way to the back.

"Your friend seems very proud of his family's legacy," said Mr. Darcy in his characteristically haughty tones.

Elizabeth immediately felt affronted. Was Mr. Darcy insinuating that Zebulon ought to be embarrassed because his parents kept a shop? "Yes, Zebulon is immensely proud of his family. His father started here when he graduated from Hogwarts, and it was the exact opposite of what it is now. Mr. Thomas is a highly intelligent and dedicated man that has seen to it his family never wants for anything!"

Mr. Darcy nodded, but did not say anything more.

Mr. Thomas, a man just entering his fifties, was incredibly robust and animated. He greeted the group of Hogwarts students when they entered the back of the shop, taking care to ask Elizabeth if Zebulon had been behaving himself. Zebulon pretended to be affronted.

"Come now," said Mr. Thomas, waving the students over to a table heavily laden with supplies, "grab whatever you need. I'll have no talk of payment from the lot of you."

And so began a delicate dance between Mr. Thomas and Elizabeth that had occurred many, many times before. She insisted she and Jane offer some sort of payment, be it working a few shifts in the shop, or at least paying a fraction of what the products were worth. Mr. Thomas stoutly refused, saying it was his genuine pleasure to supply such deserving Hogwarts students with what they required to succeed. Elizabeth was eventually forced to bend to Mr. Thomas's demands, and so she and Jane began sifting through the contents of the table with everyone else.

"I'm afraid I must insist on paying you, Mr. Thomas," said Mr. Darcy. After Elizabeth had abandoned her argument, he seemed to wish to take it up.

"I'll not have you fighting on," said Mr. Thomas with the wave of his hand. "Darcy, is it?"

"Yes," said Mr. Darcy. "Surely, you are aware – "

"I know precisely who you are, Mr. Darcy," said Mr. Thomas, still with a great smile on his face. "You're a student starting at Hogwarts and seem to be part of the group my son and the Bennets have taken under their protection. Therefore, I wish to gift you your potion supplies. Surely you won't deny me this pleasure?"

After trying a few more times, Mr. Darcy bowed and thanked Mr. Thomas for his generosity.

Once all the rest of the students were thoroughly enthralled, at least she thought them to be, Elizabeth approached Mr. Thomas again.

"What can I do for you, Lizzy?" Mr. Thomas asked. "Are you planning on trying something particularly advanced this year? Did I not put out something you'll need?"

"Far from it, Mr. Thomas," Elizabeth said with a smile. "I've no intention of sticking my neck out in potions this year, and I've got more than I'll need set aside now. I have an entirely different matter to discuss with you."

Mr. Thomas's smile faltered. "We've been over this, Lizzy."

"Mr. Thomas, please!" Elizabeth said urgently, though at a whisper. "You simply _must_ allow me to pay you back for the broom you bought me! Every time I'm out on it, I can't help but think it is not yet truly mine!"

"But it _is_ yours, Lizzy!" Mr. Thomas countered. "Letitia and I bought it for _you_, gave it to _you_, so you could have the opportunity to play for Gryffindor like you so very much deserved."

"You and Mrs. Thomas were very kind to do so!" Elizabeth conceded. "But now I am in a much better financial state, and I must insist on repaying you for your kindness."

"Consider it an investment on our part, then, instead of a gift," said Mr. Thomas, his smile beginning to regain brilliance. "We knew that, in the long run, putting some money into you would do us and the rest of the world some good."

Elizabeth was forced to accept his terms. When he was distracted by Zebulon calling him, though, she quickly dug into her pocket and stuffed a few galleons into a nearby plant. She turned back to her group to find Mr. Darcy staring at her. She raised her eyebrow at him challengingly, but he was not intimidated. Instead, he calmly walked over and retrieved the galleons, holding them out to her.

"I do not think Mr. Thomas would take kindly to your refusal of his gift," said Mr. Darcy.

Furious that he had been listening, and even more so that he had interfered, Elizabeth took the coins back from Mr. Darcy and threw them into her pocket before heading back into the main shop.

The next several stops were not nearly so eventful. After the apothecary, Zebulon took his transfer off to their next planned destination, leaving the Bennet sisters with their own charges to continue on.

Elizabeth simply went through the motions at many of the stores. She checked her list, grabbed what she needed, consulted with Jane on what to get for their younger sisters, paid, and left. When Miss Bingley declared she needed a new owl so she could write to Mrs. Hurst, however, Elizabeth's interest piqued.

Elizabeth stepped into the owl emporium with barely concealed awe. She so desired to have an owl of her own. As soon as she had a job, it was the first thing she planned to buy. As things were currently, however, she could not justify the initial expense, nor the cost of the animal's keep. She eyed a barred owl, perched just out of her reach and sleeping peacefully.

"Have you no owl?"

Elizabeth felt her shoulders tense and she just barely turned her head to answer Mr. Darcy. "My sister and I have found the school owls to be sufficient on the occasion that we employ their services."

"It is not quite the same as having an owl of your own."

"Perhaps not, but it suits our needs just as well," Elizabeth stiffly answered.

Miss Bingley finally declared she would settle for an eagle owl. Elizabeth found herself feeling pity for the great creature as it was stuffed inside a cage and made to resign itself to Miss Bingley's care.

Mr. Darcy purchased a fair amount for his own owl, which became an item of great interest to Miss Bingley.

"Mr. Darcy, you do take such good care of your owl!" Miss Bingley stated. "You simply must advise me on which treats would best suite my own!"

"I should think the proprietor of this establishment much more able to see to your needs than myself," Mr. Darcy deferred.

"I have always admired how fastidiously you care for your owl's cage," Miss Bingley tried again.

"On the contrary, I rarely do anything with Hootsworth's cage," said Mr. Darcy. "He spends most of his time flying about and chasing vermin, or however he might entertain himself. Rarely is his cage used, therefore it requires little effort from myself to maintain it."

"Hootsworth?" Elizabeth inquired before she could stop herself. It seemed such a ridiculous name for a man such as Mr. Darcy to give to his noble pet.

"My sister, Georgiana, named him," Mr. Darcy explained.

"Dear Georgiana!" Miss Bingley exclaimed, happy to have a new subject to latch onto. "How I have missed the sweet girl! I do declare Mr. Darcy, it seems as though you've kept her away from me very purposefully this past year, at least! I should so love to see her."

Mr. Darcy's back became even more rigid, if such a thing were possible. "My sister has been much occupied."

"How occupied could a girl of six be?" Miss Bingley inquired.

"Very occupied, I assure you."

Elizabeth found herself contemplating the life of poor Georgiana Darcy, locked away by her brother and forbidden to do anything that might bring her joy before tending to studies likely too advanced for her years. Though, Elizabeth supposed, she could not blame Mr. Darcy for wanting to keep his sister from Miss Bingley. If she could do so, she would. As it was, Jane seemed determined to find the best in the vulture of a woman.

The last stop of the day was Flourish and Blotts, which pleased Elizabeth immensely. This was a stop she felt was truly for her. She did not have to get anything for her youngest sisters, as she and Jane had kept all their old books for the express purpose of handing them down. Nor did Elizabeth feel the need to tend to the Bingleys or Mr. Darcy. The shop was large enough, and the needs of each individual so varied, that she was able to strike off on her own without seeming rude.

Lizzy chose her books very carefully. The subjects she took simply as a matter of course, such as Potions, she grabbed second-hand books for. Those classes she truly enjoyed and looked forward to, however, she was sure to get crisp, new books for so she could write all her own notes and observations in the margins. The largest sum she had spent all day would go to her books for Transfiguration, Charms, and Care of Magical Creatures.

When Lizzy came to the aisle that she hoped would hold a Charms book Professor Flitwick had directed her to purchase, she was instantly disappointed by the sight of Mr. Darcy squatting just where she intended to be, looking intently at books in either hand.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said, alerting him to her presence.

"Ah, Miss Elizabeth," said Mr. Darcy, quickly rising from his position. "Perhaps you might be willing to advise me? Professor Flitwick suggested I get this book, but he did not specify an edition."

Elizabeth stepped closer to look at the title. She felt her blood suddenly run cold. "You're to study dueling with Professor Flitwick?" she asked. He held the very book she had intended on finding.

"Yes," said Mr. Darcy incredulously. "I thought you might have deduced it from that first night."

Elizabeth felt herself blush against her will. "I did not know you were serious in your pursuit." She swooped down and grabbed another copy of each edition, rather than look more closely at the ones Mr. Darcy held. "Professor Flitwick has advised me to get the same book."

"You will continue studying with him this year, then?"

Elizabeth heard a hint of something in Mr. Darcy's voice she struggled to make out. For a moment, she thought it might have been hope, but quickly dismissed the idea. Certainly, Mr. Darcy wished to have private lessons with her no more than she did him.

"I do not know that I will meet with him so often as I did last year," said Elizabeth, "but I will continue to hone my skills, yes."

"Professor Flitwick mentioned your attention would be much absorbed in studies with Professor McGonagall," Mr. Darcy ventured. "You are hoping to become an Animagus?"

"Yes," said Elizabeth simply. She turned the books over in her hand before looking at the first pages of each. Finally, she set one of the books back on the shelf. "This earlier edition, I think, will be more to Professor Flitwick's liking. He does not think particularly well of the philosophies of one of the new editors brought on for the latest printing."

Mr. Darcy kept the recommended edition and set the other back in its spot. "You speak often with Professor Flitwick on philosophical matters?"

Elizabeth shrugged. It was a gesture she greatly enjoyed, as it was one of many she would be scolded for in the Muggle world. "In the course of my lessons, philosophies have been delved into on a regular basis, of necessity. I do not necessarily seek them out with Flitwick, as we have some firmly opposing beliefs, but I enjoy them none the less."

"And here I thought you enjoyed discussions with opposing views," said Mr. Darcy. "You seem to take the opposition of whoever you are speaking with at any given time. I'm sure I've seen you argue to the positive of a subject with one person, and then decidedly flip to the negative when speaking with another, simply because you could. Or so it appeared."

Elizabeth found herself saved from the trouble of coming up with a reply to the unexpectedly poignant observation of Mr. Darcy's by the appearance of Miss Bingley.

Elizabeth quickly excused herself, claiming she had only just remembered her promise to find a book for Mary. It was not precisely a lie. She did intend on getting a book for Mary. She had simply decided to "remember" at this opportune moment.

Lizzy had turned, feeling freed, and started in her desired direction when she froze, hearing footsteps behind her.

"Do you mean to intimidate me into replying to your earlier challenge by following me, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked, turning on her heel and finding herself quite closer to the object of her speech than she had intended.

"Forgive me," said Mr. Darcy, hastily taking a step back to maintain even a Muggle's sense of propriety. "I confess curiosity. I've heard your sister, Miss Mary, studies Legilimancy."

"She started last year," Elizabeth said cautiously.

"May I accompany you to that section of the shop?" Mr. Darcy asked.

Elizabeth could find no legitimate reason to deny the request, and so she was forced to agree. She made quick work of finding Mary's book and added it to her basket. When Mr. Darcy asked if he might carry her books for her, Elizabeth stoutly refused and made her way back toward the register. She was unsurprised to find the rest of the party waiting. Jane always finished finding books before her sister. Mr. Bingley admitted to not being a great reader. Miss Bingley's interest in books extended only as far as she could hold Mr. Darcy's attention with them.

Having found everything they needed and being quite tired from the day's adventures, the party agreed to return to Hogwarts just in time for dinner.

"I trust you found the book I told you to get while you were out today?" Professor McGonagall asked in her office, Lizzy sat across her desk.

"Yes, of course," said Lizzy, drawing the book from her bag. "I had hoped to glance through the first chapter during dinner, but Jo was insisting we exchange all details from the day."

"Yes, I believe Miss Prewett to have been very greatly entertained by Mordecai Beckett," said McGonagall knowingly.

"I think that's a fair assessment," said Lizzy with a smile. "Who came up with the assignments for today, might I ask?"

"I did with Professors Flitwick, Sprout, and Slughorn," McGonagall answered.

"Might I be so bold ask to ask why you chose to place Mr. Darcy under my care?" Lizzy dared to ask.

If Lizzy did not know better, she would have thought McGonagall's lips had twitched as if to smile.

"We've observed that your sister and Mr. Bingley seem to be becoming great friends, so it made sense to pair them. Naturally Miss Bingley should go with her brother, and you would want to be with your sister. Seeing as Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are great friends, it made sense to put him with you. Was there some sort of issue?"

"Mr. Darcy and I are not particularly fond of each other," Lizzy said after a moment of debate.

"Oh?" McGonagall asked lightly. She did not elaborate, nor did she give Lizzy the opportunity to delve further into the subject, instead beginning to question the girl on a number of things.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Oh, Darcy... you delightfully awkward dope.

Please let me know what you enjoyed or what you think could do with adjusting in the future! Happy Friday!


	5. Chapter 5

The day finally arrived.

Lydia, breathless from giggling so much, tumbled out of Piper's carriage with Kitty. Mary exited with some amount of dignity.

"Lord, Lizzy, what an adventure!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Good evening, Lydia," Lizzy greeted. "Kitty. Mary, I am glad you've come."

Mary gave Lizzy a very loaded look, and Lizzy mentally conveyed her sympathies for Mary having to spend so much time enclosed in such a small space with the youngest Bennets.

"Come along, Kitty, Lydia," Jane coached, offering her hands. Kitty gratefully took her elder sister's hand. Though she was twelve and a full two years older than Lydia, she did not possess as much confidence and was grateful for the boon Jane offered. Lydia did not even notice Jane's hand and bounded off, forcing Lizzy to rush to catch her.

"Lydia, you must have _some_ care!" Lizzy said exasperatedly upon catching her youngest sister. "You never know what you're going to trip across here!"

"La, Lizzy, I should have known you would be just as boring here as you are at home!"

Lizzy rolled her eyes and firmly took Lydia's arm with her own, preventing the silly girl from further gallivanting and slowing their pace enough to allow the rest of their sisters to catch up.

"You'll spend the time until the Sorting Ceremony in a chamber off to the side of the Great Hall with the rest of the first years and transfers," Jane explained to her youngest sisters as they continued across the grounds. "You'll all be shown into the Great Hall together and then – "

"That sounds like such a bore," Lydia interrupted. "I should much prefer to go back home and socialize with the militia than be shepherded about like some sheep!"

"Lydia!" Lizzy chastised.

"You were not doing any sort of socializing," said Mary bitterly. "I think it a fine thing you were removed from Hertfordshire before you actually found the opportunity to wander into the militia encampment!"

"How would you know our plans?" Lydia asked boldly, not bothering to deny the truth of Mary's assertion.

"I know a great deal more than you think, Lydia, and now that we are at Hogwarts I shall not be forced to bite my tongue any longer when you cook up ridiculous schemes that will make you and the rest of the family into a laughingstock!" Mary bit out.

Lydia was quick to snap back at Mary. Lizzy's attention, however, was diverted to Kitty. Normally, the girl would jump to Lydia's defense. Kitty stayed firmly attached to Jane's side and seemed determined not to join the fray. Something had shifted between them. Hope welled within Lizzy for her sister's future.

"That is enough!" Lizzy said forcefully as even Mary's voice began to rise. "Lydia, you _will_ behave yourself at Hogwarts! Jane, Mary, and I have all spoken of what we expect from you and Kitty. The professors will have their own expectations, and you _will_ live up to them all. Mama is not here to defend you, nor Papa to ignore you. Do not think you shall always get your way here."

"I shall do – " Lydia began.

"You most certainly shall _not,"_ said Lizzy in such a tone as Lydia had never heard before. It so shocked the girl that she closed her mouth.

Lizzy was pleased. She had long desired to take Lydia in hand but had been prevented by circumstances. She was no longer hindered by such.

Lydia pouted, but did so silently, and so Lizzy let it pass.

"Is it to be a very long time before the Sorting Ceremony?" Kitty asked.

"No, only an hour or so," Lizzy answered.

"W – Will we truly have to fight a troll?" Kitty squeaked.

Lizzy could not help but laugh. "Mary, what have you been telling our sisters?"

"I have told them nothing!" Mary objected.

"You shall not be fighting a troll, Kitty," said Jane soothingly. "Wherever did you hear such an idea?"

"At Ollivander's," said Kitty smally. "I overheard some older children recollecting their Sorting while Lydia and I were waiting yesterday."

"Did Uncle Gardiner take you?" Lizzy asked.

Kitty nodded. "So they were wrong? I won't be forced to use my wand tonight?"

"No, Kitty," said Jane.

"Of course they were joking, Kitty," said Lydia scathingly. "Lord, you are so gullible."

Jane gave Lydia a warning look, something Lydia had never before seen from her eldest sister. She was cowed into submission again, if only temporarily.

"They just wanted to scare you, Kitty," Jane patiently explained. She gave no exact details of the Sorting, but promised it was quick, painless, and required no magical knowledge.

"Would you like to show us your wand before we drop you off, Kitty?" Lizzy asked, consciously taking advantage of Kitty's current observance of proper decorum to draw the girl out.

Kitty smiled shyly, then reached into her pocket. She held a wand of average length. "It's larch and phoenix feather," she said lovingly.

Lizzy felt her eyes widen. In her studies with Flitwick, she had read much about wandlore. The combination of the wood and core of her sister's wand gave her great hope for the girl's future. "I think that an excellent match for you, Kitty."

"Take that compliment well, Kitty," Jane encouraged. "Lizzy has studied wandlore extensively, and knows what a wand says about a witch or wizard."

Kitty positively beamed and carefully stowed her wand away again.

"La, Kitty's wand is so boring!" Lydia declared. As per usual, she was not satisfied unless she was the center of attention. She fished her own wand out of her pocket. It was on the short side. "Dogwood and dragon heartstring!" she said proudly. "It is infinitely prettier than Kitty's, don't you think?"

Lizzy found herself thoroughly unsurprised that such a wand had chosen Lydia. "You'll come to discover, Lydia, that looks mean a great deal less in the wizarding world than they do in the Muggle."

Lydia huffed and stowed her wand again.

"What are your wands made of?" Kitty asked. The sisters had stopped outside a door, but felt no great need to split just yet.

"Black walnut and dragon heartstring," said Mary, putting her wand on display. "It keeps me honest with myself," she said, conflicting emotion evident in her voice.

"Mine is pear and unicorn hair," said Jane.

"Jane's wand is possibly the best matched of all," said Lizzy with a warm smile.

Jane blushed. "Stop it, Lizzy!"

Lizzy only grinned more before pulling her wand from up her sleeve. It was unorthodox, to say the least, for her to keep it in such a place over her pocket, but Lizzy found she liked always _feeling_ her wand on her person, which was not so easily done from one's pocket as one's sleeve. "My wand is ebony and phoenix feather."

"We have the same core, Lizzy!" said Kitty excitedly.

"Yes," said Lizzy, pleased. "We do."

"Will you share with me your knowledge of wandlore?" Kitty shyly inquired. "I think I would like to know what a person's wand says about them."

"I should be happy to share with you, Kitty!" Lizzy enthusiastically replied.

Kitty beamed again, a sight Lizzy found herself hoping would appear often.

"We should leave you," said Mary pragmatically. "It won't do for the other first years and the transfers to judge you based on who you're seen with, not before they can get a measure of you for yourself, first."

"I shall refuse to be judged by my association with you," said Lydia stubbornly. "I shall be much more fun to be around than any of you, I'm sure. No one will believe I am sister to such bores!"

Lydia entered the door before them without another word.

"Let her discover her folly on her own, Mary," said Lizzy soothingly, laying a hand on Mary's shoulder.

Mary, who had gone red in the face, relaxed slightly. "If only she knew what people _really_ thought of her!"

"Do people not think well of Lydia?" Kitty asked, quite confused. "How should you know what other people think, Mary?"

"I'm a Legilimens," said Mary.

"Mary can hear the thoughts of some people," Lizzy patiently explained when Kitty continued to look confused. "With further study, she will be able to look into the mind of anyone she so chooses, provided they are not skilled at Occlumency, though I'm sure she shall be respectful of the privacy of others."

"I have yet to divulge another's secret without their consent," said Mary, "and I have no intention to ever do so."

Kitty simply stood with her mouth open for several moments. "S-so you can hear _my_ thoughts?"

Mary's face softened. "I do not blame you, Kitty," she said, surprisingly understanding. "I believe you've come to reflect many of the thoughts of Mama and Lydia. I have high hopes for what you'll become here at Hogwarts.

"Now, on you go! Make some new friends," Mary encouraged.

Kitty smiled in thanks before disappearing behind the door Lydia had entered earlier.

"That was very kind of you, Mary," Jane observed as the trio moved away.

"It's the truth," said Mary with a shrug. "I've learned a lot about all my family members this past summer. Kitty deserves to know she is capable of independent thought without fear of being censured and ostracized."

"I've often thought she could do with a bit of confidence," Jane admitted.

"Perhaps she will be sorted into Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, and either of you could help her along," said Lizzy.

"Let us pray for Hufflepuff," said Mary. "Coming to Ravenclaw and being associated with me would do her no favors."

"You are too harsh on yourself, Mary," said Lizzy.

"You know I am not," said Mary. "As much as it sometimes annoys me, I accept my lot in life. I came up with a way to better understand my peers, and it backfired marvelously. I have no one to blame but myself. I'll continue with my studies, and I will find my niche eventually."

"That is a very mature outlook on life, Mary," said Jane.

"I've done a lot of thinking while practicing the piano in the two weeks since you left," Mary said by way of explanation.

"What does Lydia's wand say of her, Lizzy?" Jane asked after a moment.

"That she is flighty and prizes her own entertainment above all else," Lizzy promptly answered. "Hardly surprising. I suspected she would find such a match."

Jane pursed her lips for a moment, then shook the thought off. "You two should get settled in the Great Hall," she suggested. "I am to greet everyone as they come in."

Lizzy teased Jane for her responsibility before entering the Great Hall with Mary. She went to Gryffindor table while Mary found her own spot at Ravenclaw's. If other students left seats empty around Mary, the girl chose not to make a scene about it, instead pulling out a book and allowing it to absorb her attention.

Lizzy was happy to greet many of her friends as the hall continued to fill. Josephine and Zebulon were flitting around Gryffindor table, as was expected of them as prefects. They would join her before the feast actually started. Until then, Lizzy spent most of her time speaking with Phoebe Weasley, one of her fellow Chasers and roommates.

"I've heard you came back with the prefects," said Phoebe. "Is it true, then? You're actually studying to be an animagus?"

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," said Lizzy with a shrug.

"You've already taken an extra year for studies," said Phoebe. "Will you graduate after eight years here, or nine?"

Lizzy laughed lightly. "I care not how much time I spend at Hogwarts," she said. "I care only that I shall be equipped with the knowledge I desire to live the kind of life I should like."

"Well, the longer Gryffindor can keep you on the team, the better, I suppose," Phoebe said.

It seemed like no time passed at all before Professor McGonagall led in a gaggle of first years, largely between the ages of ten and twelve, as well as the added group of Beauxbatons transfers.

Lizzy looked fondly at Kitty, noting that she had branched out on her own and entered with someone other than Lydia, who was near the back of the herd. She remembered her own Sorting well. She had been only nine and determined not to be afraid, no matter what she had overheard while out in Diagon Alley with Jane collecting their school supplies.

Initially, when sorted into Gryffindor and separated from Jane, who was put into Hufflepuff, Lizzy had been devastated and incredibly confused on what to do with herself. As time progressed, however, she appreciated the independence from her family, even one so beloved as Jane. The two had some classes together, anyway, which helped ease the transition.

Lizzy, though grouped with the students labeled as sixth years, was entering her seventh year at Hogwarts. She had chosen to take so many extra classes and independent studies her date for graduation had been pushed back. Lizzy did not mind in the slightest. She was only fifteen, and felt no rush to leave the comforts of Hogwarts.

Jane had been eleven when she was sorted, and instantly liked by all. Such had not surprised Lizzy in the least. Jane had taken a few extra courses, not nearly so many as Lizzy, but had added a year to her own school time because of travelling back home so frequently. In their first several years at Hogwarts, Mrs. Bennet had urgently summoned Jane home many times, stating she needed to come take care of some disaster or another. Lizzy had detected the insincerity of her mother almost instantly, but it took Jane longer to come around.

Jane and Lizzy had been preparing to enter their fourth year and Mary her first when Mary pulled them aside for a word. She urged Jane to stop coming home, as Mrs. Bennet was unabashed and unrepentant in her scheming to get Jane to drop from school and stay home to find a husband and save the family. Even then it had taken a fair amount of convincing from Mary and Lizzy, but Jane had finally been made to see reason. She no longer hurried home when Mrs. Bennet summoned.

"Which ones are yours?" Josephine asked, sliding into the space next to Lizzy now that her duties were done.

Lizzy pointed out Kitty and Lydia to Josephine and Phoebe. Zebulon had chosen to sit elsewhere.

"Lydia looks very much like you," Phoebe commented.

"And that is where the similarity ends," Lizzy sighed.

"That there is Charles Bingley," said Josephine to Phoebe, nodding her head in the man's direction. "Captured the attention of our Head Girl, he has."

Phoebe giggled. "So Jane finally likes someone back, does she?"

"Oh, leave Jane alone," said Lizzy.

"I still don't think John is over Jane's lack of interest in him," said Phoebe. She referred to her brother that had graduated the year previous, though not before declaring Jane to be the most beautiful woman he had ever met and asking her if she would agree to a courtship. Jane had not agreed, though she had been sweet about it, and John pouted for weeks after.

"John is a grown man and can get over the ordeal," said Lizzy.

Josephine continued pointing out the transfers to Phoebe and shared several of her speculations as to what House they might be sorted into.

Lizzy hardly tended to the conversation. She was focused on her younger sisters. Kitty was whispering animatedly to the girl she had walked in with. Lydia had shouldered her way through the crowd so she was standing next to Kitty, and had begun trying to insert herself into the conversation. After just a few of Lydia's attempts, Lizzy could see Kitty's confidence begin to wane, and she divided her attention between her new friend and Lydia until, finally, Lydia succeeded in gaining the whole of her attention.

Luckily for Lizzy, her anxiety over where her sisters would be sorted was short lived, as they were so near the beginning of the alphabet.

When McGonagall called "Bennet, Catherine!" Kitty stepped forward, her hands balled tightly in her robes. She carefully sat herself on the stool, her face red. Lizzy supposed she did not like being the center of attention when hundreds of eyes were observing her every move. Such a sign was further encouragement for Kitty's future.

"Hufflepuff!" the Sorting Hat called after less than a minute of consideration.

Lizzy applauded enthusiastically, quite pleased Kitty would have Jane to watch over her. Kitty would fit in very well with the Hufflepuffs, and they would encourage her to achieve her full potential.

"Bennet, Lydia!" was called next.

Lydia bounded forward and practically threw herself onto the stool. Hardly a moment was lost before the Hat declared her to be a Gryffindor.

Lizzy was not surprised. Lydia was impulsive, lively, and adventurous, often to the point of stupidity. Of course she should be put into Gryffindor. As she clapped, Lizzy hoped her fellow Gryffindors would do an admirable job of showing Lydia her own insignificance. She had seen it happen before and allowed herself to relax with the thought in mind that other Gryffindors would not shy away from conflict with Lydia, as the girl was so used to happening.

The remainder of the first years were sorted before the transfers were started on. Mr. Bingley was put into Hufflepuff, which was as expected. Josephine and Phoebe exchanged a loaded look and giggled at Lizzy's expense. Miss Bingley was put into Slytherin. Again, Lizzy could bring herself to feel no amount of surprise. Miss Bingley's ambition and belief in the value of pure blood made such a thing a certainty.

Lizzy did find herself shocked, however, when Mr. Darcy was sorted into Ravenclaw. He had given every indication of fitting in well with the crowd of Slytherins with his wealth, pure blood, and aloof demeanor. That he should be put, instead, amongst the intellectuals, inventors, and forward thinkers was a great deviation from her expectations.

"Do pick your jaw up off the table, Lizzy," Josephine said casually. "People will stare before long."

Lizzy blushed as she closed her mouth.

"He's changed quite a bit," Phoebe mused aloud.

"You know the Darcys?" Lizzy asked.

"Well, sure, nearly all purebloods know each other on some level," said Phoebe. "I'm sure Jo's told you about the Darcys!"

Josephine shrugged in response to the looks she received from her friends. "I didn't think it was my business."

"It's a horribly tragic tale, and it's clearly weighed down on the latest Mr. Darcy," said Phoebe. She had a good heart but enjoyed spinning a good tale perhaps a little more than was justifiable. "I saw him not three years ago, and he was not nearly so grave!"

"Phoebe, leave the man be," Josephine said irritably. "Lizzy knows him well enough already."

"Do you?" Phoebe asked interestedly, wiggling her eyebrows.

Lizzy briefly summed up her acquaintance with Mr. Darcy and the Bingleys as the last transfers were being sorted.

"Well of course he should be aloof in the Muggle world!" Phoebe said. "He's a _very_ eligible match! So young, and he's already inherited one of the largest estates in the country."

Dumbledore rose before more could be said. He greeted all his students, taking care to welcome the first years and the transfers, especially. He then deferred further announcements until after dinner had been eaten, much to the students' delight.

"Perhaps his distance in the Muggle world could be justified, though by no means excused," said Lizzy as she placed her napkin in her lap. "He has continued to display poor manners here, however."

"His manners have been fine, Lizzy," said Josephine. "You're just still sore about his comment at that assembly."

Lizzy bristled. "I don't care three straws what he thinks, and I should not let such a rude and – " she stopped herself in the middle of her rage, recognizing Josephine's knowing look. She deflated. "My opinions have not been affected by a single snide remark."

"Of course they haven't been, Lizzy," said Josephine, clearly unconvinced.

"Have a bit of compassion for him, Lizzy," Phoebe suggested. "His mother died giving birth to his sister some six years ago, and two years ago his father got dragon pox. I heard he took a full year off school to get everything in order."

"No, it must have been last year that his father died," Josephine countered, despite her declaration that Mr. Darcy should be left alone. "He's entering his sixth year now."

"How odd," said Phoebe. "I'm certain it was two years ago. My father went to the funeral. But then he should be in his seventh year…"

Josephine shook her head and cleared her curious expression, blushing slightly as though embarrassed to have been caught up in the story. "Well, it is none of our business whether Darcy took one year or two off school to get things in order after he inherited. Let's leave the subject be."

Lizzy was eager to agree, and the rest of the feast passed pleasantly.

After a second speech from Dumbledore, in which he outlined the expectations for the year, Lizzy moved along with the crowd of Gryffindors to their tower. She was exceedingly pleased to have the tower bubbling with activity again. It had seemed so empty and cold with only herself and the prefects to occupy it.

Lydia wasted no time in securing an invitation to play gobstones. Lizzy was well satisfied that those she played with did not allow her to bend the rules to her satisfaction. Lydia soundly lost, and it was clear to all involved that she was not used to such.

Pleased that Lydia was already being schooled in humility and the fact that the world did not revolve around her, Lizzy milled about only a few more minutes to greet those she had missed before, then went to her room. Josephine and Phoebe were already unpacking their trunks.

Before long, Lizzy had unpacked as well and bid all her roommates goodnight before drawing the curtain around her bed, eager to begin her classes in earnest the following day.

* * *

**Author's Note**

You may be asking why all the childrens are entering Hogwarts at different ages. Well, that's largely because I wanted Jane and Lizzy, Kitty and Lydia in the same years. I feel perfectly justified in doing so with the idea that schooling was much less uniform in this time frame. When I started writing this, I imagined that little wizards and witches would head off to Hogwarts after meeting some sort of magical bar rather than by reaching a certain age. -shrug- Let's just roll with it, shall we?

Please share your thoughts with me in a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Lizzy cursed the French more than she had ever done in her entire life in the first two days of classes. Mr. Darcy's schedule was nearly identical to her own. The only reprieve she had from him was History of Magic, at which time he had Arithmancy.

"I shall almost certainly lose my mind within the month," Lizzy wearily declared to Phoebe, Josephine, and Zebulon at lunch.

Josephine and Zebulon exchanged a look, apparently deciding to ignore Lizzy. They tucked into their food enthusiastically and asked after each other's Defense Against the Dark Arts essays.

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much," said Phoebe, a mischievous grin on her face.

"I beg your pardon?" Lizzy asked.

"Oh, come on, Lizzy!" Phoebe said exasperatedly. "You can't be that thick!"

"Apparently, I am that thick," Lizzy said caustically, "because I have no idea what you are referring to!"

"I think you rather like Darcy and you just don't want to admit it," said Phoebe, somehow sounding sensible.

"I think you're off your rocker," Lizzy retorted.

"I'm sure you could easily find a plethora of people to agree with you," Phoebe said unconcernedly. "That does not necessarily mean that I am wrong."

"My statement that I most certainly do _not_ like Mr. Darcy does, however."

"If you say so."

Lizzy rolled her eyes at Phoebe and changed the subject.

Over at the Ravenclaw table, Darcy sat engrossed in a book on Care of Magical Creatures. He was so wrapped up in his own mind he did not notice a girl with nearly white hair float into the seat beside him.

"Did you know hippogriffs are excessively fond of strawberries?"

Darcy flinched horribly and nearly spilled his drink. "I beg your pardon!"

"I asked if you knew hippogriffs are fond of strawberries," the girl repeated, unphased by Darcy's reaction.

Darcy contemplated the girl beside him warily. He could think of no reply besides, "I was not aware."

"It's true," said the girl. "It's not often discussed, however, as it embarrasses the hippogriffs to have it known they like a plant so much."

"Who are you?" Darcy asked, too stunned by the girl's boldness to remember correct manners.

"Calliope Lovegood," said the girl. "You studied in France for several years, did you not? Was it nice there?"

Darcy was saved the trouble of stuttering out a response by the arrival of none other than Mary Bennet.

"Please excuse Calliope, Darcy," said Mary diplomatically as she sat opposite him. "She means well."

"Oh, I hope I haven't offended you!" Calliope exclaimed, her distress obvious.

Darcy looked around himself curiously. He had purposely sat near the edge of Ravenclaw table so he would not be disturbed in his reading. Or rather, disturbed at his_ attempt_ in reading. His mind was much occupied by a creature, certainly, but not one he could find in his book. How did it come to pass that this girl, Calliope, had chosen him to sit by of all people?

"Calli, have you started on that Herbology assignment yet?" Mary asked, drawing Calliope's attention away.

Mary and Calliope conversed for a few more moments before Calliope excused herself, having eaten nothing.

"I am sorry Calliope caused you such discomfort, Darcy," Mary apologized again.

Darcy suddenly recalled that Mary was studying Legilimancy and bristled, attempting to set walls around his thoughts.

"I'm sorry that I'm causing you discomfort now. Though I doubt it will make you feel any better, you have the right to know that I do not divulge the thoughts of others I might stumble upon. It was a most serious promise I made to Professor Flitwick, and he would not have begun to instruct me in Legilimancy if he did not believe me to be sincere."

Darcy now blushed, quickly reviewing all his thoughts since Mary had sat down.

Mary chose not to speak any further, instead focusing on loading up her plate.

"Why are you still sitting here?" Darcy asked eventually.

Mary looked up from her food, then down the table. "People are more comfortable when I give them some physical space. This is my usual seat. Calliope often joins me, but she is the only one."

Darcy fought a blush.

"You need not feel embarrassed, Darcy," said Mary. "You are new and could not have known this was my typical spot at the table. You would not be blamed for moving away, least of all by me."

Darcy chose to do the exact opposite, closing his book and devoting more of his attention to Mary. "You are truly not bothered with being so ostracized?"

Mary shrugged. "I was not particularly adept at navigating social circles even before I started on Legilimancy. At least now I know the reason I am currently shunned, and aware of the reasons I was before."

Darcy found Mary's honesty and openness refreshing. He had been approached by a great many people since classes started, all seeking to connect themselves to his family name. It was as if Caroline Bingley multiplied overnight.

"Perish the thought, Darcy," said Mary mischievously, fighting a smile.

"You and your sisters are rather singular," said Darcy, choosing to ignore Mary's commentary on his thoughts. "None of you seem to seek the approval of society."

"Perhaps we do not seek the approval of society, but we are impacted by the opinions of certain members of it more than we might care to admit," said Mary cryptically.

Darcy had been about to enquire further, but Mary rose from her seat.

"I've bothered you long enough," Mary declared. "You should get back to your studies, and I to mine."

Darcy watched Mary exit, confusion evident on his face. He looked over to Gryffindor table in time to see Elizabeth burst into laughter over something Zebulon Thomas had said. He shoved his book into his bag with unwarranted aggression. How much simpler his life would have been if she actually _was_ the Muggle he had thought!

* * *

Lizzy nearly skipped on her way to Flitwick's office after dinner. She had missed her dueling lessons a great deal over the summer, and was grateful to have the opportunity to continue to learn from such a master as Flitwick. She had decided earlier in the day she would be her cheery self, even if it turned out her lessons would be joint ones with Mr. Darcy.

"Enter!" called Fltiwick's voice in reply to Lizzy's knock.

Lizzy opened the office door to find Mr. Darcy bent over Flitwick's collection of wands, examining them carefully. He snapped to attention at her entrance.

"Miss Bennet, good evening!" Flitwick greeted. "I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you that Mr. Darcy will be joining you for lessons, considering how well matched you were in that duel several weeks ago. He and I have spent the last hour discussing wandlore."

"Hence your collection being brought out of hiding," said Elizabeth with a smile. She strode over to the carefully arranged display. "Which shall you use tonight, Professor?"

"That," said Flitwick, "is a task I have assigned Mr. Darcy."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "Choose wisely, Mr. Darcy, or Madam Pomfrey will yell at us all when we come to her with extensive bruising, or perhaps a few cuts. Some of these wands are particularly volatile."

"Do you speak from experience?" Mr. Darcy asked.

"I could hardly answer that without encouraging you to dig for further details," said Elizabeth. She firmly turned her back, then seated herself comfortably in a chair across Flitwick's desk.

Mr. Darcy returned to his perusal of the wands before him. Flitwick's collection certainly was extensive. Elizabeth could well remember numerous sessions in the year previous in which Flitwick had directed her to choose his wand for their lesson. It had engrained wandlore very firmly in her mind, and she found herself grateful for being behind Mr. Darcy. If she had been in front of him, he surely would have seen her cringe or lean forward in anticipation, depending on which wand his hand rested.

Finally, Mr. Darcy pulled a wand from its pocket and handed it to Flitwick. "Maple, I believe," he said, "with a core of dragon heartstring."

"You are correct," said Flitwick, very clearly pleased. He circled his students before settling himself at his desk. "Seeing as it is the first week of class, I shall do you the credit of believing you to be exhausted and not insist upon any demonstrations tonight."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief. She was rather tired. Her body had yet to settle into the rhythm of the demanding schedule of the school year.

Mr. Darcy settled into the seat beside Elizabeth.

"Instead, we shall discuss the finer points of the standard rules of engagement and the reasons for their existence," said Flitwick.

Elizabeth could not decide whether she was eager for such a discussion, or whether she wanted to avoid it entirely. She normally enjoyed a debate with Flitwick, but had enough experience debating with Mr. Darcy to know that she was unlikely to return to her dormitory in a relaxed state.

An hour and a half later, Elizabeth found herself nearly running out of Flitwick's office.

"So your lesson went that well, did it?" Josephine asked drily when Lizzy collapsed unceremoniously onto her bed.

Lizzy pulled her head from her pillow only long enough to say, "I enjoy a good debate. That was not one."

Phoebe jumped onto Lizzy's bed and rolled her friend onto her side. "Come now, Lizzy. I'll not be satisfied with such shoddy details."

"There is not much to say," said Lizzy grumpily. "What should have been an interesting discussion instead devolved into a marvelous fight over differences between English dueling tradition and the emerging American tradition."

"That sounds so incredibly dull," said Josephine. "I think I nearly fell asleep during your explanation."

"It does sound dull," said Phoebe, "and certainly not worth arguing over. So what prompted you to such heights, Lizzy? Hmmm?"

Lizzy hit Phoebe full in the face with her pillow. "Be gone with you, you annoying buzzard!"

"Was Darcy as heated in the argument as you?" Phoebe asked after wrestling the pillow from Lizzy to prevent another attack.

"Why should I answer you?" Lizzy asked frustratedly. "Whatever answer I give, you'll twist to your own satisfaction."

"Well, you're not wrong," Phoebe admitted.

"Lydia nearly got into a fight with Penny Greenburg while you were gone," said Josephine.

"What?!" Lizzy asked sharply, all discussion with Phoebe quickly forgotten.

"Penny had been working on an essay and stepped away, leaving her new quill out. Lydia rather liked the quill and – "

"And thought she could have it," Lizzy huffed. "Penny did not agree, I assume?"

"She did not," Josephine confirmed. "When Lydia declared the quill was much better suited to herself than to Penny, Penny stated it did not matter, as the quill belonged to her. Lydia threw quite the fit when I intervened on Penny's behalf."

Lizzy fell back into her bed and covered her eyes with her arm. "Such tactics have, unfortunately, worked quite well for Lydia in the past."

"I assumed as much," said Josephine. "She didn't seem to know what to do with herself when we didn't cave to her wishes."

"I think she'll have to get worse before she gets better," said Phoebe.

"Why would you wish such a curse on me?" Lizzy asked, raising her arm just enough to glare at her friend.

"It seems a reasonable guess to me," said Phoebe. "If whining and throwing fits worked in the past, she must think her behavior needs to escalate in order to get her way with this new group of people. Only once that fails will she explore alternatives."

Lizzy groaned and rolled over until her face was buried in her mattress.

"No one will hold it against you, Lizzy," said Phoebe, setting Lizzy's pillow on top of its owner's head. "We all know there's an adjustment period for a first year. Everyone will just laugh at it before long, and Lydia will come to find her place."

Lizzy's response was to grab the edges of her pillow, wrap them more firmly around her head, and scream into the mattress.

Phoebe patted Lizzy's back in consolation before making her way to her own bed. "Just remember that I thought Julian would always be a homesick little thing. Now he dreads going home. He's found he no longer desires all of our mother's fawning."

"I wish I could believe Lydia would come to enjoy a life without our mother's attentions," Lizzy grumbled.

"Have a little faith, Lizzy," Josephine coached. "Kitty's adjusting well. With time, Lydia will too."

Lizzy's pride in Kitty overcame her shame in Lydia, and she came out from underneath her pillow resolved to tend to topics of import to her friends. "How was your Muggle Studies class today?" she asked.

Josephine and Phoebe were eager to tell Lizzy of what they had learned that day and what they believed they had to look forward to.

"Muggles are just so _fascinating_," Phoebe said in awe after summarizing her first Muggle Studies class of the term. "Tell me, do Muggle women really spend time learning 'the art of the fan?'"

"Perhaps one day you'll find yourself at a Muggle ball and see some women demonstrating their skills at fan flirting," Lizzy answered.

"If only I had a friend that could get me into such an event," said Phoebe dramatically.

"Be careful what you wish for," said Lizzy mischievously.

"I think I should like to attend _one_ Muggle ball, if only for the novelty of it," said Josephine. "That should satisfy me a lifetime, I'm sure."

"You, your children, and your grandchildren," said Lizzy drily. "I assure you, you're missing nothing at a Muggle ball besides dancing, which can just as easily be done in the magical world."

"The social dynamics would be interesting," said Josephine.

"Exhausting, more like," Lizzy countered. "Let me know when you're writing your first essays. I'll be happy to look them over for factual accuracy."

"It's so convenient having you around, Lizzy," said Phoebe with an annoying grin. "I knew befriending you would pay off."

* * *

The following evening, Lizzy attended what would now only be weekly lesson with Professor McGonagall. Friday night, she was pleased to have the opportunity to disappear to the library to get some work done. Lizzy often found the common room to be a place she could manage to do her work, but was desirous to spend time away from Lydia as the girl continued to press her luck.

Lizzy had returned from her extra Transfiguration lesson to find Lydia attempting to browbeat another first year into finding the kitchens with her. When Lizzy declared Lydia certainly would not be out and about the halls after curfew, Lydia had brazenly stated she should do as she wished and that Lizzy could not stop her. Lizzy had stuck Lydia's shoes to the carpet so quickly the girl nearly faceplanted.

"Let me go, Lizzy! This is a horribly dirty trick!" Lydia had cried as she tried to pry her feet free.

"I will release you, Lydia, when I have your promise that you will stay in Gryffindor Tower and either tend to your homework or go to bed," Lizzy had calmly come back with.

Lydia had spat a number of threats at Lizzy, none of which Lizzy was at all intimidated by, before sullenly stating she wished to retire. Certain the girl had tired herself out, Lizzy released her sister and watched Lydia closely as she ascended the stairs to her room.

The quiet of the library was a blessed relief. Lizzy lit a candle with the flick of her wand and settled at a table, pulling her books from her bag and organizing them about her.

"What is it this evening, Bennet?" Madam Pince asked, stopping at Lizzy's table and setting down a large stack of books she had been returning to their proper place.

"A little of everything, Madam Pince," Lizzy answered. "I've been so flustered this week I haven't even prioritized my work yet."

"Well, be careful with the wax from that candle," Pince advised, waving her wand at her stack of books to levitate them before her again.

"I always am, Madam Pince," said Lizzy pleasantly.

Lizzy used her time wisely. She figured out what needed to be done first, calculated approximately how long each of her assignments would take, and checked out several additional books that would be necessary. She was nearly halfway through an essay on Ancient Runes when Madam Pince kicked her out of the library. Lizzy was so focused on packing in an orderly fashion that she did not notice Mr. Darcy quickly sneaking past her, having spent the last several hours at the table just on the other side of a bookshelf from her.

* * *

"Just where do you think you are going, Lydia?" Lizzy asked on Saturday morning.

"With you to Hogsmeade, of course," said Lydia, winding a ribbon around her hair.

"First years are not allowed off grounds at any time," Lizzy said matter-of-factly before returning her attention to tying her boot.

"I shall be with my sisters," said Lydia. "I'm sure I shall be allowed to go under such circumstances."

"Try your luck if you so wish," said Lizzy with a shrug. Professor Sprout would be checking students out this morning. Sprout was generally well liked and known to find ways around rules on rare occasions, but she was incredibly fair and excessively protective of younger students. She would not bend on allowing Lydia out.

Once a month, third through fifth years were allowed to visit Hogsmeade. Those that had taken their O.W.L.S. were allowed out every weekend, so long as they checked out and back in. Lizzy and Jane had taken their O.W.L.S. just a few months previously, and had excitedly planned for their regular excursions to Hogsmeade. Lizzy was to meet Jane in the entrance hall in just ten minutes.

"Do try not to throw too much of a fit when Professor Sprout says you cannot go," Lizzy advised as she began to wind through the halls, Lydia trotting beside her.

"Oh, Sprout won't stop me going," said Lydia confidently.

Lizzy sighed, but chose to save her energy by not arguing the point.

"Good morning, Lizzy!" Jane greeted pleasantly. She had been speaking with Bingley, but moved away to greet her sister. "Lydia, what has you up so early? I thought you would still be abed."

"I plan to see Hogsmeade for myself," said Lydia.

Jane and Lizzy exchanged looks.

"Where is Kitty?" Lydia asked. "Did you not bring her along?"

"Kitty knows she is not allowed to Hogsmeade yet," said Jane patiently. "She said she plans on practicing Transfiguration this morning."

Lydia rolled her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Good morning, students!" Sprout greeted cheerily, coming down the main staircase. She looked over the crowd and started writing down names. "You're expected back for dinner, as per usual. Normal rules and expectations for Hogsmeade trips apply. Need I go into further detail?"

"No, Professor Sprout," chorused the gathered sixth and seventh years.

"Nice of you to see your sisters off, Miss Lydia," said Sprout, having begun to mingle about the group to get the names of transfers with whom she was not yet familiar.

"Oh, I'm not here to see them off," said Lydia confidently. "I'm here to go with them."

Sprout looked at Jane with her brows creased. "Miss Bennet, you are aware that first years are not allowed off the grounds?"

"Perfectly aware, Professor," Jane answered.

"Lydia chose not to believe me when I said she should not be allowed to go," Lizzy said, refusing to allow Jane to receive any blame in the situation.

"Well, Miss Lydia, you would have done well to listen to your sisters," said Sprout with only a twinge of sympathy. "Into the Great Hall with you. Get some breakfast."

"But that's not fair!" Lydia objected. "Why should I not be allowed to go out with my sisters? They shall look after me."

Lizzy looked toward the ceiling and exhaled.

"I'm sure they would," said Sprout, "but I won't ask it of them, nor will I ignore the rules that have long been in place, and with good reason. You may disagree all you wish, Miss Lydia, so long as you stay on the grounds.

"Off you go!" Sprout said to the group at large.

Mr. Bingley approached and offered either arm to Jane and Lizzy, which they accepted. They left a seething Lydia to Sprout's direction and headed off to Hogsmeade.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Next chapter will be in the crossover section, so be sure to either follow the story now, or remember to check there!

I've been enjoying reading your thoughts on the story. Please keep them coming!


	7. Chapter 7

Lizzy enjoyed her trip to Hogsmeade immensely. She spent the morning with Jane and Bingley. When lunchtime came, Lizzy found Josephine, Phoebe, Zebulon, and Albert. Bingley escorted Jane back to the castle to switch places with Silas Diggory, who had stayed with the younger students for the morning. Having been relieved of his duties as Head Boy, Silas joined the group as they were finishing lunch.

"Splendid of you to join us, old boy!" said Albert in greeting. "We were just about to go to Zonko's."

"Were you really?" asked Silas unenthusiastically. "I don't think that's such a good idea. You're trouble enough without Zonko's products, Bentham."

"Someone's got to keep you on your toes, Diggory," Albert came back with.

They did go to Zonko's, though Albert refrained from getting anything, much to the relief of Silas.

The bulk of the afternoon was spent at Madam Puddifoot's. On the weekends when the younger students were allowed out, the shop opened its upper level to serve as an assembly hall, which was always well crowded. Though the ballroom remained shut on most weekends, Madam Puddifoot's still had enough space available to allow for a few couples to dance as they waited to be served.

"Should we request a waltz?" Zebulon asked with a suggestive twitch of his eyebrows after several dances with his friends.

"How very shocking of you to suggest such a thing!" Josephine exclaimed, feigning offense.

Lizzy laughed and suggested another reel instead, to which everyone agreed. The request was made of the enchanted instruments in the corner, and before long the dance started. Lizzy was paired with Albert, and the two danced perfectly, each determined to outshine the other. Whatever they did always turned into a competition, somehow.

The group was having such great fun they forgot to keep track of time. It was not until Silas yelped in the middle of a dance and grabbed Phoebe by the hand to begin running that everyone's minds snapped back to reality.

"What a sight," Sprout commented with raised brows as the last of her students stood panting before her. She looked pointedly at her pocket watch. "Cutting it mighty close, aren't we?"

"Lost track of time, Professor!" Silas gasped.

"Do be sure it won't become habit, Diggory," said Sprout. "I should hate to have to put our head boy in detention."

"Of course, Professor," said Silas contritely.

Lizzy entered the Great Hall, breathless from running and from laughter, side by side with Zebulon.

* * *

"You've sat in my spot again, Darcy."

Mr. Darcy wrenched his eyes from Elizabeth with difficulty. "My apologies, Miss Mary."

Mary looked toward her sister as Mr. Darcy did. "She and Zebulon are like brother and sister," Mary said quietly once she had turned back around. "You've no cause for concern."

"I – that is – " Mr. Darcy stuttered.

"Your secret is safe with me, Darcy," said Mary lightly.

Mr. Darcy rose from his seat, grabbed his plate, and moved far from Mary. He was so distraught over her observations that he did not notice he was being watched.

Mary turned in her seat again as she heard Lizzy began to mentally rant. She smiled at her sister, hoping to stop the tirade, but it did not work.

"How abominably rude of him!" Lizzy hissed, seating herself beside Mary.

"Go sit with the rest of Gryffindor, Lizzy," said Mary. "I'm not offended."

"Well you should be!" Lizzy huffed. "To move away in such a public fashion, and in the middle of a conversation!"

"Lizzy, let it be," said Mary, trying her best to hide her amusement. "It's better for him to be away from me, anyway."

Lizzy huffed again and threw a napkin onto her lap before slamming some potatoes onto her plate.

"Calliope is on her way here now, Lizzy," Mary tried again. "Go to your own table."

Lizzy shot a stubborn glare at Mary before clearing her face of any trace of anger and pointedly changing the subject. "What did you do with your day, Mary?"

Mary answered her sister well enough, but was incredibly distracted by the volatility of Lizzy's thoughts and the strength of conflict in Mr. Darcy's, who was watching the entire exchange from further down the table.

* * *

"Bennet!"

Lizzy tried to ignore the hissed calling. She was annoyed enough already. Not only was she in Potions, a class she did not particularly enjoy, but she had somehow gotten stuck at a table with Ursus Malfoy and Mr. Darcy.

"Oi, Bennet!"

Elizabeth focused her attention on the root she needed to cut very precisely for her potion. Suddenly, her cutting board was jarred and Elizabeth almost sliced her finger. Enraged, she finally looked up to meet Malfoy's eyes.

"Is it true your father's a Squib?" Malfoy asked, a malicious glint in his eye.

"I hardly see how my bloodline is relevant to brewing this potion, Malfoy," said Elizabeth tersely.

"It's relevant because I asked you," said Malfoy.

Elizabeth felt her temper flare dramatically. "I don't know what power you think you hold over me, Malfoy, but allow me to disillusion you at once," she hissed. "I am not under your command in any respect, and I will not heed your summons like some dog just because of your last name! I am your equal, no matter what you might choose to believe." She resolutely set back to work on her root, discarding the ruined part.

"That's a mighty bold speech from you, Mudblood!"

"That's quite enough, Ursus," said Mr. Darcy quietly, but firmly.

If it were possible to burn holes through a person with a look, Elizabeth was sure she could have done it to Mr. Darcy. She certainly did not need his help fending off Malfoy!

"Don't tell me you're going soft, Darcy!" Malfoy guffawed.

"A person cannot help what family they are born into," Mr. Darcy replied.

"Indeed," said Elizabeth hotly. "Some are born into families with manners, and others are born into a pit of pigs!"

Malfoy sobered immediately. "Are you having a go at my family, Bennet?"

"It seems only fair," Elizabeth snapped back.

"How goes things over here?" asked Slughorn, shuffling over to the table and completely oblivious of the tension present.

"Perfectly fine, Professor," said Malfoy smoothly.

"This looks remarkably well, Miss Elizabeth!" Slughorn remarked after looking into Elizabeth's cauldron. "I see you are refusing to be outdone by your sister today, hmm?"

"I have never been in competition with my sister before, Professor Slughorn, and I have no intention of starting today," Elizabeth said, toeing the line of civility.

Slughorn laughed heartily. "You are certainly never dull! Tell me, are you still determined to be stubborn about coming to my dinner parties?"

"I like what is served in the Great Hall well enough, Professor," Elizabeth answered.

"I'll wear you down sooner or later," said Slughorn with a wave of his hand. He peered into Mr. Darcy's cauldron. "Merlin's beard, this couldn't look better if I brewed it myself! Take five points for Ravenclaw, Mr. Darcy!"

"Thank you, sir," said Mr. Darcy.

Slughorn looked into Malfoy's cauldron and moved on without making a comment.

"You're going to pay for your insolence, Mudblood," Malfoy hissed once Slughorn was away.

Elizabeth chose chopping the legs off a frog over responding to Malfoy's threat.

"Miss Elizabeth, might I walk with you?" Mr. Darcy asked, catching up to Elizabeth after she practically bolted out of the dungeons when class ended.

"I think you'll find I can't stop you, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth answered smartly without looking.

"I feel I must urge you to take Ursus's threat seriously," said Mr. Darcy.

"I can handle the likes of Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Darcy, thank you," said Elizabeth tightly.

Mr. Darcy's lips thinned as he considered his response. "Ursus does not follow the standard rules of engagement when he sees fit to ignore them. Please be careful."

Elizabeth stopped in the middle of the hall and faced Mr. Darcy. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Mr. Darcy!"

"That may be so," Mr. Darcy answered hotly, "but it does not mean you are invincible!"

"No, I should need a pedigree to achieve invincibility!"

"Lizzy?"

Elizabeth tore her eyes from trying to set Mr. Darcy's face on fire to look at her sister.

"Is everything alright?" Jane asked, looking between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

"Everything is perfectly alright, Jane, thank you," said Elizabeth. She consciously took several deep breaths to regain her composure. "Mr. Darcy was just asking after a possible shortcut."

Jane was clearly unconvinced, but chose not to make things anymore awkward by disagreeing out loud.

"I am sure I shall never figure out all these secret passageways!" Mr. Bingley exclaimed. "I am infinitely grateful that the Hufflepuff common room is below the ground. I don't think I would ever make it to breakfast if I had to confront those blasted moving stairs every morning!"

Elizabeth allowed herself to smile at Mr. Bingley and assure him he would figure things out soon enough, then excused herself to go to her next class.

* * *

"As though I should need his help," said Lizzy scathingly as she shoved her hands into her gloves. She and Phoebe had headed to the Quidditch pitch early for practice.

"I'm sure he wasn't doubting your ability, Lizzy," said Phoebe soothingly. "He knows Malfoy better than you do. If he says Malfoy won't play fair, I suggest being on your guard."

"What does it matter that my father's a Squib, anyway?" Lizzy huffed.

"It doesn't," Phoebe answered. "If Malfoy had any sense, he'd see it. So your father's a Squib and your mother's a Muggle. You're still top of the class, and captain to boot! Just look at Jo. Her bloodline's pure as any, but her oldest brother barely scraped out of Hogwarts."

Lizzy sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Phoebe. You don't deserve my ire. You've nothing to do with the whole situation."

"But I could," Phoebe offered. "Maybe a curse of mine will go off target in Defense tomorrow…"

"Don't go getting yourself wrapped up in this nonsense just for my sake," Lizzy advised.

"Oh, no, not _just _for you," said Phoebe. "It'd be for me. My family, too, I suppose. We're not exactly on friendly terms with the Malfoys, you might say."

"I doubt anyone worth knowing is," said Lizzy. She popped out of her seat. "Enough of this! Come! Let's start tossing the Quaffle while we wait for everyone else to get here."

The first practice of the term went exceedingly well. Lizzy was incredibly pleased with her teammates. Everyone got along and read each other on the field with ease. They warmed up, tried a new drill, and then wrapped practice up by running through a few plays that had been used years previously.

"Goodnight, Bennet!" called Julian Weasley, waving to Lizzy as he and his fellow Beater, Levi White, made to leave the pitch.

Lizzy waved back before returning her attention to the crate of Quidditch balls.

"Well, I hate to say it," Phoebe sighed, "but Julian is turning out to be quite the Beater."

Lizzy laughed. Phoebe had been unable to decide whether she was pleased or annoyed when her younger brother made the team, but Lizzy knew she would work with him well. "I don't think he would allow himself to be so outdone by his older sister," Lizzy answered.

"He's still got a ways to go before he can outdo me at anything," Phoebe quickly replied. She grabbed one end of the crate and helped Lizzy stow it away. "Have you managed that charm Flitwick told us to get started on?"

Lizzy and Phoebe discussed their Charms assignment, and even tried it a time or two, as they made their way back to the castle.

Suddenly, Lizzy stopped and looked around.

"What's gotten into you?" Phoebe asked.

Lizzy shook her head. "Nothing," she said distractedly. "I thought I saw something, but I'm so very tired. I probably just imagined it."

Phoebe did not seem entirely convinced, but returned her attention to wandwork.

Lizzy only partially paid attention to Phoebe the rest of the way back. She could not shake the feeling she was being watched.

* * *

The following week was busier than Lizzy expected, and she had no expectations for her life slowing down. She had something to do every day after class. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays were Quidditch practice. Wednesdays were lessons with Flitwick. Thursdays with McGonagall. If Lizzy was not in class, extra lessons, practice, or eating, she was sat at a table, surrounded by books and scrolls, feverishly tending to her coursework.

When it came time on Saturday for Jane to leave Hogsmeade to switch places with Silas, Lizzy went also so she could try to get caught up on work, though she was loathed to do so. Little did she know her absence was the cause of relief and frustration to a particular Ravenclaw that had been unable to get to Hogsmeade before lunch that day.

Malfoy continued his verbal assaults whenever he saw the opportunity, and Lizzy realized he had only been so quiet in the weeks leading up to class because he was watching everyone to learn their weaknesses. She thought it highly likely that Caroline Bingley had provided the fodder on the Bennet family in an effort to get herself in good graces with Malfoy. The ploy had worked. Caroline always sat near Malfoy and with several others of "purest" blood in the Great Hall for meals. Lizzy wondered what kind of meltdown Caroline, a Muggle-born, would have when she realized she was only being used, and was therefore expendable to the pureblood maniacs.

As days became weeks, Lizzy decided to accept the fact that she would spend the entirety of her school year in a state of at least mild exhaustion.

"Are you listening, Lizzy?" asked Phoebe irritably at lunch one day.

Lizzy shook her head and blinked several times. "I'm sorry! I think I might have been sleeping with my eyes open."

"That's a neat trick," said Zebulon. "Wish I had learned it when I was still taking History of Magic."

After the third week of class, Lizzy took on yet more tasks by agreeing to tutor several students.

"Lizzy, I really think you ought to consider giving something up," said Jane concernedly as she and her sister walked back from their most recent Hogsmeade trip. Bingley, who was almost constantly at Jane's side by this point, had stayed behind with his roommates. "I worry you'll overexert yourself."

"I'll be fine, Jane," Lizzy said unconcernedly. "Save your concern for someone who needs it."

Lizzy came to regret not listening to Jane very soon. The close of the fourth week of class came with a marvelous cold for Lizzy, whose body had finally refused to function on too little sleep and food any longer. It prevented her from going to Hogsmeade for the first trip third, fourth, and fifth years would be allowed on this term. She even skipped breakfast that day, choosing instead to sit in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room with a blanket wrapped tightly around her.

"Lizzy."

Lizzy pulled her eyes from her book to look at Lydia. "Good morning, Lydia," she said through her stuffed nose. "How did you enjoy this past week of classes?"

"Save your breath, Lizzy," said Lydia acidly. "I know you don't care."

Lizzy was taken aback. Her mind jarred so badly she could not even think of an immediate response.

"Jane told me to tell you that you are to go see Madam Pomfrey immediately after lunch," said Lydia flatly.

Lizzy groaned. She did not think her cold was worth bothering Madam Pomfrey over, but she knew Jane would send person after person after her until she finally went.

"Thank you, Lydia, I will do as Jane said," Lizzy finally said. Before Lydia could turn away, she started again, "And I _do_ care. Perhaps I could sit by you at lunch, and you could tell me all about your first month?"

Lydia narrowed her eyes as she examined her sister, then shrugged and left the common room.

Lizzy leaned back into her comfortable chair and stared into the fire as she considered Lydia's behavior. Before she could get very far, however, her eyes drifted shut.

The next thing Lizzy knew, a small group of particularly adventurous second year boys were stifling their laughter poorly. Lizzy cracked her eyes open to realize she had an impressive assortment of items stacked on her lap.

"I told you adding that inkwell wouldn't go over well!" one boy said snidely to his fellows.

"What truly won't go over well," Lizzy said as dangerously as she could in her congested state, "is you continuing to be within the range of my wand!"

The boys knew better than to try Lizzy, and quickly scattered.

Lizzy allowed herself a satisfied smirk as she examined the tower the boys had made in her lap while she slept. She thought they might have been able to manage a much taller creation if they had only strategized their item stacking better. Sighing, she freed herself, then looked at the clock and nearly yelped. She had slept through lunch.

Lizzy hurried to her room, threw on a pair of shoes, and made her way quickly to the hospital wing. When she arrived, she had a coughing fit that announced her presence, and Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office with a disapproving scowl.

"Good afternoon, Madam Pomfrey," Lizzy said after her fit had ceased, wiping her leaky eyes as she did so.

"You've done a marvelous job of overloading yourself, Bennet," Pomfrey said flatly.

"I'm sure I'll be fine in no time," Lizzy said cheerfully.

"Yes, because your sister has more sense than you," Pomfrey retaliated. She uncorked a flask and shoved it into Lizzy's hand.

Lizzy took the potion without complaint and followed the matron's orders throughout the entirety of her physical examination without fighting.

"Well, I can bring you back to health now," said Pomfrey, "but it's not going to last if you don't make some changes to your schedule."

"I'm sure I can manage – "

"You're too clever to lie to yourself in such a fashion, Bennet," said Pomfrey dismissively. "I expect you back after dinner. Begone with you."

Lizzy bit her tongue to keep from making an unwise comment and departed the hospital wing. She did feel quite a bit better after her nap and Pomfrey's potion, well enough to actually focus on some of her work.

Nearly two hours passed before Lizzy raised her eyes at the opening of the common room door to see Lydia enter. Upon catching sight of the girl, Lizzy gasped and vaulted out of her chair.

"Lydia, I'm so sorry – "

"Don't worry yourself, Lizzy," said Lydia airily without looking at her sister, "I knew you weren't serious."

Lizzy felt frustrated by herself and by her sister. "I've not been feeling well, and I slept through lunch. Perhaps we could sit for a while now? I remember you saying you brought a bonnet to work on. Why do you not grab it, and you can work as we talk?"

Lydia scrutinized Lizzy closely for several moments before shrugging and heading up the girls' staircase.

Lizzy stared after Lydia for a short while before claiming another chair beside hers for the girl and clearing space for her sister's project. After thinking on it a moment longer, Lizzy cleared the entirety of the table, brought her books up to her room, and grabbed a set of robes she had been meaning to mend.

It took Lydia longer than Lizzy thought was necessary to gather her project and return to the common room. Lizzy was nearly halfway through fixing her robes. Had she chosen to use her wand, she would have been entirely finished.

"I should have checked in with you sooner," Lizzy said while Lydia settled. "Please tell me all about your first few weeks!"

"I hate it here," Lydia spat, beginning to rip an old ribbon out of her bonnet.

Lizzy poked herself with her needle in surprise. "Why?"

"All anyone cares about is reading and practicing and a whole host of things I don't understand or care about," Lydia readily answered. "I much prefer the occupations and conversations of home."

Suspicions began forming in Lizzy's mind. "Is there nothing pleasant to recount?"

"No."

"What about transfiguring the twig to a needle in Professor McGonagall's class?" Lizzy asked. "That must have been satisfying."

"Who would be pleased about managing something so stupid?" Lydia asked harshly.

Lizzy did Lydia the courtesy of focusing on her stitching rather than examining her sister's face too closely. "And you did not enjoy levitating objects in Charms?"

"What do I care about making feathers float about? They do that without any magical help."

Lizzy looked around her from under her eyelashes. There was no shortage of first and second years in the common room, yet none of them had so much as smiled at Lydia. "What about your roommates?"

"Lord, they are all so dull!" Lydia whined.

Lizzy suddenly felt sickened by herself. For a month complete, Lydia had been in an entirely new environment, confronted by rules and boundaries that had never been forced upon her. The girl was overwhelmed and isolated. Lizzy knew it was Lydia's own actions that led to such a result, but also knew she could have been helping to ease the girl's transition from day one, if she had only thought to.

"You know, I never much cared for levitating feathers, either," Lizzy said in an offhanded manner. "I have, however, enjoyed being able to levitate gowns I am altering. I'm able to keep hems more even, and balance patterns better. It's proven very useful."

Lydia's interest seemed to be garnered against the girl's wishes.

"Turning a twig into a needle seems rather silly, I know, but before long you'll learn how to change the colors of different things," Lizzy continued. "There have been many items I've brought home that you thought were new, but I simply altered the coloration."

Lizzy did not feel guilty about stretching the truth in the slightest. She had only changed the coloring of a few items of her Muggle clothing, but her strategy to engage Lydia's interest was working. Lizzy was fine preying on Lydia's empty pursuits in the meantime if it meant the girl might be open to more practical things in the future.

"What else do you do with what you've learned?" Lydia asked, barely above a whisper.

Lizzy had to admit she was strangely impressed by Lydia's stubbornness. Despite being surrounded by young witches and wizards experimenting with magic for the past month, the girl proved shockingly ignorant of what magic could do in practice, outside the classroom. Nonetheless, Lizzy found herself enjoying her conversation with Lydia.

Before long, conversation evolved into demonstrations which proved Lizzy's suspicions correct. Lydia had not truly perfected any spells yet, and what she had managed was not very impressive. A combination of Lizzy's encouragement and suggestions with Lydia's newfound care led to new success, however. Lizzy was delighted to see Lydia with a genuine smile on her face and laughter in her throat, especially since the cause was worth celebrating, rather than being some misstep of a neighbor or stupid decision on the girl's part.

Only half an hour before dinner, Lizzy began coaching Lydia through a charm she knew was upcoming, which drew the attention of a few other first years. Lizzy allowed herself to fade into the background as Lydia began engaging with her fellows. As they observed and commented on each other's efforts, some of Lydia's words were still harsh, but both Lizzy and the other first years could see that her intentions were good. When it came time to leave for the Great Hall, Lydia smiled at Lizzy before leaving with her new friends.

Lizzy was thrilled for her sister and could not wait to tell Jane of the whole thing. She nearly ran down to the Great Hall, aided by her happiness and her remembrance that she had not eaten all day.

"Lizzy!" Jane smilingly exclaimed when her sister approached her at the Hufflepuff table. "You look a fair sight better than I anticipated. Did you get much rest?"

"Yes, I slept and saw Pomfrey and feel much improved, but that is not important," said Lizzy with the wave of her hand. "Come, let us sit with Mary today."

Jane agreed to the scheme, excused herself from her friends, and moved with Lizzy to the Ravenclaw table.

"Did you go to Hogsmeade today, Mary, or did you stay and study?" Lizzy asked as she settled herself.

"I went for an hour or two," Mary answered. "I shall tell you of my day later, Lizzy, for I know you are bursting to share your own experiences."

Lizzy grinned and began recounting her day for her sisters. When she finished, but before Jane and Mary could give their own pleased commentary on Lydia's progress, Kitty joined them and the conversation turned.

"Jane, will you look over my Potions assignment tonight?" Kitty asked. "I finished it with Hattie this afternoon, but she and I weren't quite certain about several details."

"Of course, Kitty," Jane answered. "What else did you do today?"

Before Kitty could answer, Lydia plopped herself down beside Mary. "Lord, I'm so hungry!"

"What are you doing?" Kitty asked, rather more harshly than expected.

"I am dining with my sisters," Lydia answered factually. "Adella said I should sit with her, but I saw the lot of you together and decided I would not miss out on the fun."

Lizzy felt her face might tear in two from the strength of her smile. If Lydia was becoming friends with Adella Longbottom, she would turn out very well, indeed.

"Kitty was just about to tell us what she did with her day," Jane said pleasantly, and looked at Kitty pointedly.

Kitty cleared the suspicious look from her face and provided details of her actions for her sisters.

Further down the Ravenclaw table, Darcy sat with Silas Diggory and a few other older students, but he was hardly paying attention to the conversation. He was immensely distracted by a pair of lively eyes, a pretty smile, and melodious laughter.

To say he was at war with himself seemed completely fair to Darcy. On one hand, he was utterly fascinated by Elizabeth Bennet and wanted nothing more than to get to know her very, very well. In fact, he believed he would not mind having her company to himself for the rest of his days. He would certainly never be bored. On the other hand, he was very aware of their differences and the expectations his family had of him. Elizabeth was as good as a Muggle-born. He had confirmed her father was a Squib, and even found out that she had and uncle that was a wizard, but that did not change her status in the eyes of the wizarding community. Darcy was the last male of his name. It would not do for him to ruin the purity of his line, no matter how tempting a certain lady might be.

As if the magical barriers were not enough, there Muggle ones, as well. The Darcy family was pureblooded magic, certainly, but they were still well known in the Muggle world, as were many other pureblood families. Pemberley saw to the care of a great many Muggles who were not aware of the hidden talents of their landlord, and Mr. Darcy was a known figure in London society. Even the Muggles would look down on his attachment to Elizabeth. She was of an estate of no standing that was entailed away and had a great many familial ties in trade. Not only that, but the manners of the bulk of her family were absolutely ridiculous.

Darcy found himself wondering, as he often did in recent days, how very different things might have been if Elizabeth's father had been born a wizard, instead of a Squib. The family would certainly be more respected in the magical community, and Darcy was sure that nearly any other woman in the word, especially a witch, would have more sense than Mrs. Bennet. He also wondered how his life would be different if Elizabeth were a Muggle, as he originally thought. He had already been dangerously attracted to her at Netherfield. Would he have truly been any safer?

"Darcy!"

Darcy tore his eyes from Elizabeth. "Pardon?"

"I asked if you enjoyed the trip to Hogsmeade," said Silas with somewhat of an irritated air.

"I like Hogsmeade well enough," Darcy answered. "The quill shop had some fine selections today."

"Come now, Darcy," objected Leah Harvey. Darcy had first interacted with her at the Quidditch scrimmage before school started, but as a fellow Ravenclaw and sixth year, she had since been often in his company. "Quills? I like a fine writing utensil more than the average person, I'm sure, but how could you speak of quills when there was so much else going on?"

Darcy barely avoided glancing down at the Bennets again. He had spent a fair amount of time at the assembly hall above Madam Puddifoot's hoping to catch sight of Elizabeth dancing, but had been denied the pleasure. He knew she had not been well lately but thought she would have fought through in order to dance.

"My mind was much occupied by tasks I need to tend to," said Darcy finally. "Quills are useful for my business, so I was happy to gain the tool."

Leah rolled her eyes. "You ought to relax, Darcy. Have some fun every now and then!"

"Agreed," said Silas. "Surely you can let go of your various responsibilities for a few hours, Darcy! I know Bingley tried to get you to dance. What harm would it do to indulge him? It'd probably do you a lot of good."

Darcy felt his lips tighten. Had a certain Gryffindor showed up, he might very well have danced a set or two. As it was, he spent most of his time at the assembly hall avoiding Caroline. Despite her being surrounded by wealthy purebloods on the daily, she still seemed determined to catch his attention. "I found I was not inclined to dance today."

"Well, be aware that, next time, I just might grab you and _make_ you dance," Leah threatened.

"I should hope you would not," said Darcy sternly.

"You cannot scare me, Darcy," said Leah.

"Such was not my intent."

"You might want to inform your face of that, then," Leah responded. "Silas, pass the chicken, please."

Darcy sighed. He enjoyed that Leah and Silas were not afraid to challenge him, but he often wished they would keep their challenges to academic concerns. His personal life he preferred to deal with alone. They certainly would not be encouraging him to abandon his responsibilities for a time if they had any idea of their magnitude. Not a day passed that he did not get a letter from either his stewards or his Aunt Matlock about some tenant dispute or issue with Georgiana.

As the image of his sister came to mind, Darcy again glanced at the Bennets. Would Elizabeth accept Georgiana? Would she bring Georgiana out of her shell, rebuild confidence and help the girl find joy again? Darcy had certainly struggled with doing as such, and, by her own account, his aunt was not having much more success than him. Watching Elizabeth interact with her own younger sisters, however, made Darcy wish he could give her a chance with his.

As dinner came to a close, the Bennet sisters parted, but Darcy's eyes stayed trained on Elizabeth. How he wished he could come to a decision and be at peace with it!

* * *

**Author's Note**

Let me tell you, lovelies, that writing scenes between legilimens Mary and Darcy is really, REALLY fun. :)

Please let me know what went through your mind as you read in a review!


	8. Chapter 8

Lizzy went to her dueling lesson early with a great deal of tension in her shoulders.

"Good evening, Miss Bennet!" Flitwick said cheerily. "I hope you are feeling better than last week. I've a few new techniques I'd like you and Mr. Darcy to try tonight."

"I am feeling much improved, Professor, thank you," said Lizzy. She took a fortifying breath. "I think I need to take some time away from dueling lessons."

Flitwick's eyebrows drew together. "You've had to choose between all your responsibilities, I presume?"

"Yes, Professor," Lizzy answered. "I do so wish I could keep going as I am, but it has been made abundantly clear to me that such is not possible."

"Hmmm," said Flitwick thoughtfully. "I may have a compromise. Let's speak of other things until Mr. Darcy comes to see if he agrees with my idea."

Lizzy was not fond of the idea of including Mr. Darcy in the discussion, but chose to trust Flitwick's judgement, and so engaged in benign conversation with the man.

Right on time, Mr. Darcy made his entrance and sat at Fltiwick's invitation.

"I believe I may have a solution to recent requests made of you both that would prove very satisfactory," Flitwick stated.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. What request could Mr. Darcy have made of Flitwick?

"You, Miss Bennet, have said you need more time for your other important tasks and you, Mr. Darcy, have requested aid in a research project," said Flitwick. "I propose we alternate weeks. Today, the three of us shall work on dueling. Next week, Mr. Darcy and I shall tend to research while Miss Bennet tries to keep herself from falling ill again. Does this proposal meet with satisfaction?"

Elizabeth found herself more curious than she would care to admit about the research Mr. Darcy wanted to do with Flitwick, but allowed herself to smile and agree to the scheme, anyway. One free evening every other week might not sound like much, but Elizabeth knew she would be able to do a great deal with it.

After a lengthy talk about finding balance in life with Professor McGonagall on Thursday, Lizzy had a purposeful discussion with her Quidditch teammates after practice on Friday.

"I wonder if you would agree to a change in our practice schedule after our first match," Lizzy said to the team.

"What kind of change?" asked Ezra Cooper, Gryffindor's Seeker.

"Rather than meeting on Mondays for practice, we extend practice on Tuesdays and Fridays," Lizzy answered. "You have all been performing admirably, and now that we've learned how we work together, I am confident we can continue to progress under such a regimen."

"I'm all for it," said Siobhan Malloy. She was as good a Keeper as Lizzy had ever met. "Would we be able to get the pitch for that time, though?"

"We might have to share for a short time with Ravenclaw on Tuesdays," Lizzy answered honestly. "I can talk to Higgins, though, and see if we can scrimmage in the overlap, and maybe even switch times every now and then, to keep things a little more in balance."

Octavius Donaldson, the third Chaser on the team, spoke next, "I don't know that I'm much of a fan of showing Ravenclaw our drills."

"If they remember too much, Julian and I can beat it out of them," said Levi, casually swinging his bat.

"You will not be beating anyone," said Lizzy flatly. "That's why I suggested that we switch times every now and then, Octavius. Sometimes we will see some of Ravenclaw's drills, and sometimes they will see ours. It's balanced that way, at least."

"What if Higgins goes to Bentham or Warrington with our plays?" Julian objected.

"Then we do the same with his, you fool," said Phoebe to her brother. "Now hush and respect your elders."

Julian responded by sticking his tongue out and making a face.

"Does anyone have any objections aside from Ravenclaw seeing some of our work?" Lizzy asked louder than was necessary, effectively distracting the Weasley siblings from each other.

The team responded in the negative, and so Lizzy promised to negotiate with Garrett Higgins before finalizing the schedule change.

Lizzy found the opportunity at Hogsmeade the very next day when she caught sight of Higgins in the street. She called out to him, and he approached with a mixture of pleasantry and suspicion.

"Morning, Bennet," Higgins greeted.

"I have a proposition for you," said Lizzy. She gestured to _The Three Broomsticks_. "Would you be opposed to discussing it over a drink?"

"What's the topic?" Higgins asked shrewdly.

"Quidditch."

"You're buying, then."

"That's fair," said Lizzy with a smirk.

"Find a spot near a window," Higgins asked as he held the door for Lizzy. "It may or may not happen, but someone's _supposed_ to be meeting me in a few minutes."

"Is that so?" Lizzy asked with an arched brow. "Or do you simply want to make sure there will be witnesses aplenty if I decide to try to curse you?"

Higgins tried and failed to suppress a grin. "A request can have two functions, can it not?"

Lizzy chose a table with a fine view of Hogsmeade's main street and began coming to terms with sharing the Quidditch pitch for a time with Higgins. They verbally battled for nearly half an hour before finally coming to a compromise. Both teams would extend their Tuesday practices and their time on the field would overlap by nearly forty-five minutes. They would switch who was first on the field from month to month, and the later team would have fifteen minutes to warm up before they would scrimmage for half an hour.

Higgins flagged down someone entering the building as he made his last demand. "I'm sure you'll think it reasonable that we agree not to disclose any strategies, strengths, or weaknesses we learn about each other's teams to any members of Hufflepuff or Slytherin?"

"Perfectly so," Lizzy agreed.

"Good morning, Miss Bennet."

Elizabeth nearly screamed in frustration. Why was it that Mr. Darcy showed up _everywhere_ she went? Could she not have _one_ blessed morning of relief?

"Darcy!" Higgins greeted. "Finished answering your steward already, have you? Excellent. And you've brought your bag. I should have known. Have you any parchment to spare?"

Mr. Darcy sat himself beside Higgins and handed his bag over.

"You brought your assignments?" Higgins asked as he pulled out a Transfiguration book. "I enjoy learning just as much as you, Darcy, but you must allow yourself some breaks or you'll go mad. Ah! Here we go, blank parchment."

"Jane is here this morning." Elizabeth said as Higgins began to write out the terms of their agreement. "I shall go find her and she can serve as our witness when we sign."

"Nonsense, Darcy will do just fine," said Higgins without pausing in his writing.

"Jane is head girl, and a member of neither of our houses," Elizabeth continued to press.

"And your sister," said Higgins, looking up long enough to cock an eyebrow at Elizabeth. "Darcy's an honest fellow. He wouldn't let me cheat you, Bennet."

"Certainly not," Mr. Darcy concurred.

"Perhaps not, but it would be best if we found someone impartial to be our witness. Can we agree on a Hufflepuff?" Elizabeth asked.

"Fair enough," Higgins answered.

Elizabeth looked around the pub, and her eyes landed on Permelia Abbot. "Abbot?" she asked Higgins.

Higgins turned in his seat to glance at Permelia. "She'll do," he answered.

Elizabeth left the table to retrieve the agreed upon witness. Permelia consented to the office asked of her and returned with Elizabeth to listen to the entirety of the compromise, then watched as Higgins and Elizabeth signed the parchment before adding her own name, folding the paper, and tucking it into her pocket.

"I'll make copies to give to Sprout, McGonagall, and Flitwick," Permelia promised before wishing everyone a good day and returning to her own party.

"Now that's all settled," said Higgins with a relieved sigh. He smiled at Elizabeth. "What say you to a dance, Bennet? We've had a verbal one already. Might as well do the usual version."

Elizabeth laughed. "And be seen as fraternizing with the enemy?"

"You dance with Bentham often enough," Higgins said with a shrug. "Seems only fair I should have a turn."

"Does that mean I'm obligated to dance with Warrington, also?" Elizabeth asked archly.

"Merlin's beard, no," said Higgins quickly. "I wouldn't insist on anyone dancing with that troll.

"Come on now, Darcy!" Higgins continued, rising and pulling Elizabeth up with him. "Accompany us! Bennet might even be so kind as to dance with two non-Gryffindors this day at Hogsmeade."

"I've no need of your help finding partners, Higgins," said Elizabeth coldly. "I'll dance with you, since you insist and in honor of our negotiations, but find I have no great inclination beyond that."

"I would be pleased if you would dance with me, Miss Bennet."

Elizabeth felt her eyes widen in surprise as the words left Mr. Darcy's mouth. Had he really just invited her to dance? Could she find a way to refuse without causing an incident?

"Ah, there it is! You simply must agree to it now, Bennet. Darcy hasn't danced the entire time he's been here, and we've all begun to suspect he doesn't know how," said Higgins.

"I can assure you he does know how, as I've seen him at it before," said Elizabeth lightly, happy to have been presented with the opportunity to wriggle out of having to dance with Mr. Darcy. "He was staying with Bingley near my father's estate and attended an assembly. He danced two sets complete the entire evening."

"Only two sets?" Higgins asked, pretending outrage. "That won't do, Darcy! You should have danced at least once with each of the Bennet sisters in attendance. What's wrong with you? Get up, man! You'll do what you should have done then, now!"

Higgins grabbed Mr. Darcy by the arm and hauled him out of his seat.

Elizabeth found herself frustrated. Her plan to make Higgins abandon his effort to get Mr. Darcy to dance, and to avoid dancing with the man, herself, had backfired splendidly.

"Bingley!" Higgins shouted upon catching sight of the man out on the street.

Elizabeth felt herself blush. She was not embarrassed by Higgins's manners. They were quite accepted in the magical world, and she rather enjoyed the fact. She was, however, embarrassed that Higgins was dragging more people into the situation, Bingley and Jane in particular.

Bingley smiled at Higgins, waved, said something to Jane, and then walked over with her.

"What's this I hear about your guest only dancing two sets at an assembly?" Higgins asked Bingley accusingly. "I assume those two sets were with your sisters?"

"I did _try_ to get him to engage," said Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth believed there was a true note of displeasure beneath Mr. Bingley's pleasant façade. "He can be remarkably stubborn, you know."

"Well, you just must not have been firm enough with him," said Higgins, nodding to his hand still clamped around Darcy's arm. "Come, I insist you and Jane join us, for I am determined to make Darcy give them the dances they are owed."

"It seems I have much yet to learn in dealing with Darcy!" Bingley cried delightedly. He joined the group heading toward Madam Puddifoot's and held the door for them as they entered.

"Do be civil, Lizzy," Jane cautioned Lizzy under her breath.

"I just might curse Higgins in the corridors on Monday," Lizzy growled back.

"Lizzy, you are so _very _stubborn!" Jane replied. If Lizzy did not know better, she would have thought her sister sounded exasperated.

"Ah, wonderful timing on our part!" Higgins exclaimed. "This dance is just about to end. Bingley, I'm afraid you'll have to fend for yourself. Lizzy has agreed to the next dance with me, and I must insist that Darcy attend to the eldest Bennet."

"It is no matter to me," said Bingley cheerily. "If I can't find a willing partner, I shall just go stag for the next set!"

Lizzy would have dearly loved to see Bingley dancing a set on his own, but his amiability allowed him to find a classmate willing to stand up with him. Lizzy, herself, rather enjoyed her dance with Higgins. She and he traded witty remarks the entire time, promising to knock various team members off their brooms during their anticipated scrimmages.

Her set with Higgins ended, and Elizabeth felt her amusement quickly draining as Mr. Darcy approached with Jane to exchange partners. However, luck was on her side, for once.

"Lizzy!" Josephine said loudly, suddenly appearing and grabbing her friend's arm. "You've got to come back with me, now!"

"Whatever is the matter, Jo?" Elizabeth asked concernedly.

"Lydia's gone and gotten herself into a fight with Jesse McLaggen," Josephine answered flatly.

"Oh, for _heaven's _sake!" Elizabeth fumed.

"McGonagall's got the both of them now, but I think we both know you'll be needed when they're released."

"Do you think I ought to return, also?" Jane asked.

"No, enjoy the rest of your morning here," Elizabeth huffed. "I shall keep Lydia confined to Gryffindor Tower for the rest of the day. I'm sure she's got work I can get her to do."

As much as she wanted to simply turn and run, Elizabeth forced herself to look at Mr. Darcy and say with cool civility, "I'm afraid you shall have to find another partner, Mr. Darcy. At least, with one set danced, Higgins knows you have the capability."

Mr. Darcy only bowed in response. Elizabeth rolled her eyes once she had turned and started to exit with Josephine.

"What happened?" Lizzy asked as she and Josephine hurried through the streets.

"I haven't a clue," Josephine answered. "One moment, all was well in the common room, and the next, Lydia had slammed a book into McLaggen's nose. Zebulon broke the two up while I went for McGonagall, then I went to get you."

Lizzy kept her eyes trained forward the rest of the walk back, occasionally muttering some threat or another against Lydia under her breath. Once through the main doors, she headed for McGonagall's office while Josephine returned to Gryffindor Tower.

"Lydia Bennet, you had better explain yourself, and quickly!" Lizzy said sternly upon being granted entrance to McGonagall's office. She stood over her seated sister, hands on her hips. McLaggen was already gone.

"Well, Miss Bennet, I have other matters to attend to," said McGonagall, rising from her seat. She nodded at Lydia, then gave Lizzy a loaded look before making her way to her door. "Do be sure to lock the door on your way out."

Once McGonagall had exited, Lizzy returned her full attention to her youngest sister. "Well?"

"McLaggen was being exceptionally rude and annoying, so I put an end to it," said Lydia unconcernedly.

"By breaking his nose?" Lizzy asked, her voice climbing in pitch and volume.

"Oh, Jo fixed it almost immediately," said Lydia with a wave of her hand. "He deserved much worse."

"What could he have possibly done to justify you acting like such a hoyden?"

"He was trying to get Adella to do his Potions essay for him, and when she refused, he took her cat from her lap and was about to throw the poor thing," Lydia paused in her narrative to shrug. "I stopped him."

Lizzy slowly sat in the chair next to Lydia.

"McLaggen's been bothering Adella for weeks," Lydia continued. "Salem, her cat, is an old thing. She told me only last night that she's worried he won't make it through the year."

"Why hasn't Adella told anyone?" Lizzy asked. "I may not know her well, but I was good friends with her older brother and heard much of her. She's a sensible girl!"

"Sensible, certainly," Lydia agreed, "but she is rather shy. I think she was afraid of being a bother."

Lizzy forced herself to breathe deeply. "Jo can draw her out, I'm sure. Either way, I'll make sure that she and I keep an eye on Adella, and on McLaggen."

"Oh, I can handle McLaggen," said Lydia.

"You acted rashly today, Lydia," Lizzy said sternly. "In the future, it would be better for you to let a prefect handle the situation."

"If you're expecting me to apologize to McLaggen, you're going to be sorely disappointed," Lydia snorted.

"I know better than to make such a request of you," said Lizzy shrewdly. "What I'm asking is that you not make the situation any _worse_."

Lydia sighed exaggeratedly. "I won't _seek out_ another fight. Lord knows I'd rather never speak another word to McLaggen!"

"That will do, I think," said Lizzy. "What's your punishment?"

Lydia gave a pronounced frown, crossed her arms, and sank back into her chair in a pout. "McGonagall's given us each a week of detention."

"Well, hopefully you will use that time to reflect on alternative ways of dealing with challenging people," said Lizzy, rising from her seat. "Come. We'll go back to the tower, get our things, and then go to the library. I think it would be a good idea for you and McLaggen to stay away from each other for the rest of the day, don't you?"

Lydia followed Lizzy out of the office and whined only half as much as Lizzy thought the girl might about being made to go to the library.

* * *

_Damn that girl! _Darcy fumed inside his mind. He had been just moments away from a dance with Elizabeth, one which she could not possibly entertain hopes from, considering its origin, and that thoughtless child had spoiled the opportunity with her rashest decision yet.

Darcy did not stay long after Elizabeth left. He found himself in terrible humor, and so could not tolerate the teasing that Higgins and Bingley directed at him to try to get him to dance again. Jane Bennet, thankfully, had not partaken of the annoyance. Eager to regain equilibrium, Darcy had excused himself before he said something stupid.

Immediately upon setting foot back in the castle, Darcy headed to his dorm, grabbed a few more books, and made his way to the library. He would not allow Lydia Bennet's thoughtlessness to ruin _every _aspect of his day. Now that he had calmed down somewhat, in fact, he was almost thankful for the girl's interference. He was already spending far too much time thinking of Elizabeth Bennet, and a dance with her certainly would not have helped.

Darcy had just made up his mind to forget the entire incident when he heard a pair of familiar voices behind him.

"I don't see why _I_ should be the one made to leave the common room!" Lydia whined. "_I _didn't start anything."

"Merlin's beard, Lydia! I have already agreed with you that McLaggen is a marvelous prat," said Elizabeth somewhat waspishly. "He was certainly in the wrong earlier, but that _does not_ make your response any less wrong!"

"I still don't regret it, you know," said Lydia determinedly. "Any of it. Well, I do have one regret, I suppose. That Jo fixed his nose so quickly."

Darcy had to stifle a laugh at Lydia's audacity.

"Lydia, please!" Elizabeth said fervently. "Next time someone is bothering Adella, whether it be McLaggen or someone else, bring it to the attention of a prefect, or to me. If I can't convince you for any other reason, than settle on the fact that it will help you avoid a week's worth of detention in the future."

"I suppose you're right," Lydia sullenly agreed.

Elizabeth sighed audibly. "Now, let's move on from the subject, shall we? You've got homework. Get to it."

Darcy considered the provided evidence, and decided he had to commend Lydia if, in fact, she had acted in defense of a friend. He was about to force himself to get back to work and ignore the fact that Elizabeth was just a few tables away when Lydia asked a question and Elizabeth, in a very gentle and patient manner, set aside her own work to help her sister through hers.

In that moment, the fight was over.

Darcy wanted that gentle, patient woman at his side. He wanted Elizabeth, who was more intelligent and witty than anyone he had ever met. He wanted Elizabeth, whose laughter was enchanting and abundant. He wanted Elizabeth, who could find reason to smile in any occasion. Elizabeth, who was never satisfied with "good enough." Elizabeth who, despite having so much to do it made her physically ill, was willing to set aside her tasks to help someone in need. Elizabeth, who would certainly love Georgiana like a sister. Elizabeth, to whom no other woman could ever compare, no matter her wealth or purity of blood.

"Mary!" Elizabeth exclaimed after nearly half an hour. Darcy could hear the smile in her voice, and nearly turned around to catch a glance. "Come to join us?"

"I was on my way to the grounds and heard you thinking," said Mary.

Darcy felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. He had the sneaking suspicion Mary was not talking to her sisters.

"In any case, I decided I would come see how things were going with my eyes, rather than guess based upon your minds," Mary continued. A certain air had dropped from her voice. She was now, certainly, talking to her sisters. "Perhaps I could help you for a while, Lydia, and let Lizzy work on her own assignments."

Darcy packed up his things. He had accomplished nothing since Elizabeth had entered the library. He would try being productive elsewhere. "_Maybe you could break _some_ amount of my confidences," _Darcy thought as he walked past the Bennet sisters.

"No, no," said Mary just before Darcy turned out of the aisle, "I shan't be doing your work for you, Lydia."

Darcy felt himself smirk slightly, certain again that Mary had actually been addressing him.

* * *

"Make sure you keep a good grip on your broom tomorrow, Bennet," said Malfoy snidely in Herbology. "I'd hate for it to be _too_ easy to knock you off."

Lizzy pursed her lips and chose to focus on her assigned task. With the first Quidditch game of the year happening tomorrow, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, she had been taking a lot of extra commentary and threats from various Slytherins. Malfoy had been the worst, but, then again, he was almost always threatening her in some way, shape, or fashion. She believed his current threat to have more substance than the usual, however. Malfoy had been made a Beater.

"I hope you _do_ put all your effort into trying to unseat Lizzy tomorrow, Malfoy," said Zebulon with false levity. "That'll be all the more to Gryffindor's advantage if one of Slytherin's team members is focused on a personal vendetta instead of the game."

"Keep your nose out of this, Thomas," Malfoy growled.

Lizzy put her hand on Zebulon's forearm, behind a plant and out of sight of Malfoy. Zebulon deflated and, though he was clearly anything but pleased, returned his attention to his task.

"I've been trying to decide _when_ the best time to knock you off would be," Malfoy continued. He had abandoned his task completely, and was now mocking being in deep thought. "Of course, taking you out right at the beginning of the game would demoralize your team completely, but I thought it might be fun to let the lot of you start to think you might win and then take that hope from you so harshly. I think the second option would bring more satisfaction, really."

"Lizzy," Zebulon half-growled.

Lizzy glanced at her friend's eyes to confirm he was pleading for her to let him at Malfoy, but Lizzy was no fool.

"Zebulon, could you hand me that knife there?" Lizzy asked calmly, determined not to give Malfoy the satisfaction of acknowledgment.

"Poke her with it, so we can see what kind of mud her blood's made of," Malfoy encouraged.

As Zebulon's grip tightened on the knife he had been in the process of passing off to Lizzy, Lizzy quickly replied to keep Zebulon in check. "You can satisfy yourself as to the color of my blood tomorrow, Malfoy, _if_ you manage to unseat me," she said icily. She plucked the knife from her friend's hand and resumed her task.

"That's coming along nicely, Bennet, Thomas," Sprout said, coming over to the table to examine progress. "Malfoy, what the devil are you spending your time doing? Come on, now, you don't have all day to get this done!"

Malfoy's face turned red and, under Sprout's intense supervision, returned his attention to the day's assignment. His furious eyes, however, did still occasionally zero in on Lizzy.

Only a table away, Darcy was hard at work repressing the rage he was feeling. Though he was largely successful, his hands still shook slightly. It was very difficult for him not to interfere any time Malfoy was harassing Elizabeth, but it had become more trying in the past week between the end of his internal conflict and the upcoming Quidditch match. He kept in check only with the knowledge that his acting out would make life more difficult for Elizabeth and himself.

Darcy knew Elizabeth could fight Malfoy well enough verbally, but he feared that the time would come when Malfoy put his words to action. Elizabeth was an accomplished dueler, as Darcy had discovered firsthand, but Ursus Malfoy had no scruples against ignoring accepted dueling etiquette, so long as it served his needs. Darcy also knew that Malfoy could very easily accomplish harming Elizabeth on the pitch tomorrow and make it believable as an accident.

Darcy had resolved in the first week of class that he would keep his distance from Malfoy's attempts to unnerve Elizabeth as long as possible. As soon as he actually interfered, he thought it very likely Malfoy would only escalate his behavior. Not only would Malfoy increase his venomous words and add action to match, but it was likely he would bandy the news that Darcy was interested in a woman of no standing to all his relatives. Unfortunately, Malfoy's older sister had married Darcy's cousin only a few months prior. Such an event only gave Malfoy more power.

If his family first heard of Elizabeth from Malfoy, Darcy was sure they would never accept her. No, her introduction was something that needed to be calculated and carefully handled.

"Darcy, you're bleeding," said Bingley.

Darcy looked down at his hand. Bingley was right. In the course of his musings, his traitorous, slightly shaking hands had at some point fumbled the knife he was using and sliced his finger. "Oh," was all he could think to say.

"How could you not notice?" Bingley asked, half-amused, half-worried. "Jane! Would you tend to Darcy's cut while I see if I can salvage this plant he's managed to bleed on?"

Jane was quick to grab Darcy's hand with one of hers and put her wand to it. After she had healed his wound, she observed his trembling hand before very purposefully making eye contact. "Are you alright, Darcy?" she asked lowly.

Darcy exhaled carefully and his hands finally steadied. "I'm perfectly well, thank you."

* * *

**Author's Note**

I believe it was the great Detective Rosa Diaz that once said, "Romantic epiphanies are dope."

I hope you're enjoying the realizations and brewing drama! Let me know your thoughts in a review.


	9. Chapter 9

"I can't wait to finally shut those Slytherins up," said Julian Weasley sullenly.

"Focus on the game, Julian, not vengeance," Lizzy advised. She waited, broom in hand, with the rest of Gryffindor team to take the pitch.

"I can do two things at once," Julian objected.

"You tripped while walking and talking on the way over here," said Phoebe flatly.

"Because you stepped on my shoe," Julian snarled back.

"We don't have time for this, Weasleys," Siobhan sighed.

"For the first time this term, meet the team from Gryffindor!" shouted the magically amplified voice of Eldon Fawley. He was a seventh year Hufflepuff, and a good friend of Jane's to boot. "Seeker, Ezra Cooper!" Ezra took flight. "Keeper, Siobhan Malloy! Beaters, Levi White and Julian Weasley!"

"Remember, keep an eye on each other, communicate, and we'll do just fine," Lizzy said as she and her fellow Chasers mounted their brooms.

"And lastly, Captain Lizzy Bennet with her fellow Chasers, Octavius Donaldson and Phoebe Weasley!" Eldon announced.

Lizzy took to the air with a mix of cheers and jeers. It was nothing new. She could handle it very well, ignore it even. The crowd was of no concern to her. All she wanted was to play well and win if she could.

Eldon next introduced the members of Slytherin, who also entered the pitch amidst mixed reactions.

Lizzy went down to the ground as Warrington did, to meet Madam Hooch.

"Captains shake hands," Hooch ordered.

Lizzy extended her hand and set her face to be like stone as Warrington tried to crush it in his own.

"You both know the rules, and have hopefully been teaching them to your team," said Hooch. "Any questions before we begin?"

"No, Madam Hooch," Lizzy answered promptly. Warrington also answered in the negative.

"Then good luck to the both of you," said Hooch diplomatically before taking to the air, herself.

Lizzy hopped back on her broom and joined her teammates.

"How's the hand?" Octavius asked pointedly.

"It's fine," Lizzy answered flatly.

"For now, perhaps," said Phoebe. "I'm sure the skin will start to corrode soon from the poisons Warrington excretes. Ezra, you'd better catch the Snitch quick, before Lizzy's down to one hand."

"Absurd, the lot of you," Lizzy said with a badly concealed smile. "Alright, we've spent a lot of time practicing for today. Don't let the pressure get to your heads. Just play as well as you've done in practice."

"And maybe send a few Slytherins to join the Headless Hunt," said Levi.

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "To your positions," she said as Hooch gave a warning whistle. "Good luck!"

It did not take long for Lizzy to realize that Malfoy meant to make good on the threat he had posed in Herbology. Every time she got the Quaffle, she found herself pulling some stunt or other to avoid a Bludger. After her seventh dodge and Gryffindor's first shot made, Warrington called a time out.

"What's the deal?" Siobhan asked hotly as the team gathered. "I swear the Slytherin Beaters are waiting until Lizzy's got the Quaffle to strike!"

"Well, Malfoy did say he planned to knock me off my broom today," Lizzy said unconcernedly. "It doesn't matter. We can use it to our advantage. If their Beaters are so focused on me, that leaves Octavius and Phoebe with more room to maneuver."

"I think maybe Julian and I should pay a little more attention to you, too, Lizzy," Levi suggested. "Malfoy's got a pretty mean swing, and so does Nott."

"You will do no such thing," Lizzy snapped. "Julian and Levi, you will continue to do as you've practiced and as I've told you. I'll keep the Slytherin Beaters occupied as best I can. Octavius, Phoebe, keep somewhat nearby. Anytime I have the Quaffle, I'm going to hand it off pretty quickly."

"I can – " Ezra started.

"You can keep above the action until you locate the Snitch?" Lizzy asked. "Is that what you were about to say, Ezra? Because I certainly hope so!"

Ezra sighed heavily.

The whistle blew to signal the end of the timeout.

"Just do your jobs, and don't worry about me," Lizzy ordered.

Siobhan and Phoebe exchanged a loaded look before flying back to their positions.

* * *

"So, Mr. Darcy, what will it be today?" asked Mary when Darcy sat near her. "Will you run away from me for promising not to reveal your secrets, or will you ask me to tell said secrets?"

Darcy coughed to hide his discomfort.

"Remember who you are trying to fool, Darcy," said Mary airily without taking her eyes off the game.

"I was in the wrong in both instances," Darcy admitted. "My apologies."

"Apologies accepted, Darcy," said Mary.

"Is she worried?" Darcy asked lowly after Elizabeth dodged yet another Bludger.

Mary smirked. "What do you think, Darcy?"

"I think that you know her better than I do," Darcy answered.

"I should hope so, I've known her all my life," said Mary. After a moment, she finally turned to meet Darcy's eyes. "I will not aid you, Darcy. You are on your own."

Darcy grit his teeth in frustration. He had not even been given the chance to ask aloud. "Surely you can help me understand her just a little better!"

"No," said Mary flatly, and returned her gaze to the pitch.

"You, of all people, must know that I mean to ill will," Darcy tried again.

"Mr. Darcy," Mary started coldly, "I have never betrayed another's confidences, and I am not about to start now, certainly not with my sister!"

"I'm not asking you to betray her confidence, I'm asking – "

"I know precisely what you are asking," Mary interrupted. "As I said in the library, I will not do your work for you."

"You know how difficult it is for me to understand others," Darcy said lowly.

"I do," Mary replied. "That does not change my answer. Either change the subject or change your seat, Mr. Darcy, for I won't be moved."

Disappointment and anger alight, Darcy rose from his seat and fought through the crowd until he finally found Bingley amidst the Hufflepuffs.

"Darcy!" Bingley greeted. "I thought you might choose to lock yourself away this morning, rather than come join the festivities!"

"I had considered it," Darcy growled. Since coming to Hogwarts, Bingley had become much more teasing, and Darcy tended to disapprove.

"Well, I'm glad you emerged from your cave," said Bingley. "Matches at Beauxbatons were not nearly so exciting!"

"That is because there existed no House rivalry at Beauxbatons," said Darcy flatly.

"I find the friendly rivalry thrilling," said Bingley, directing his gaze back to the Quidditch game. "Oh, well done, Lizzy!" he exclaimed.

Darcy snapped his gaze to the pitch to witness the tail end of a flip Elizabeth had executed.

"Does Lizzy often practice such antics?" Bingley asked of Jane.

"I would imagine so," Jane answered. She seemed a little pale, and her fists were tightly clenched. "She knows it makes me nervous, however, so we don't often canvass the subject."

"I see no need for you to be nervous," said Bingley. "She flies exceptionally well."

Darcy found himself nearly overcome with envy as Bingley conversed freely with Jane. Bingley did not care, and did not really need to care, who he was seen giving special attention to. There were no societal expectations for who he would choose to spend his life with, in the magical world or otherwise. Darcy had no such luck. He needed to be exceptionally careful in how he attended to Elizabeth.

As time wore on, Gryffindor racked up an impressive amount of points. Elizabeth never kept the Quaffle for long, but she did still manage to score a few times. Mostly, she supported Phoebe and Octavius by keeping the Slytherin Beaters occupied.

Darcy spent half his time anxiously watching Elizabeth, and the other half of his time hatefully glaring at Malfoy. There was not a doubt in his mind that Malfoy had only one goal to accomplish in the day's game, nor that Elizabeth had adjusted the strategy of her team to accommodate it.

"Oh, I do wish the Beaters would leave Lizzy alone," Jane said anxiously after Elizabeth made yet another impressive dodge.

"It can't be long now before the Snitch makes an appearance," Bingley said soothingly. "Ezra's got a fine seat and an excellent broom. I'm sure he'll do his office justice."

"Perhaps you've got Seer blood in you, Bingley," Darcy said drily as Ezra suddenly dove with purpose. He and Slytherin's Seeker wove through the rest of the game, occasionally parting ways or crashing into each other, but staying on course.

"Gryffindor wins!" Eldon cried as Ezra's fingers clasped the Snitch. The Seeker made a steep ascent just before he would have crashed into a wall.

"LIZZY!"

Darcy had been so focused on the two Seekers that he had nearly forgotten about the rest of the game, but the panicked shout he had thought Jane incapable of making brought his attention back to it whole heartedly.

Elizabeth was doubled over on her broom, her shoulders shaking. Phoebe zoomed over and pulled Elizabeth upright, revealing that blood was dribbling down her chin.

All of Gryffindor dissolved into chaos.

"What happened?" Darcy asked Bingley urgently as Jane began clambering over people.

"A horribly ungentlemanly thing to do!" Bingley spat uncharacteristically. "As soon as Eldon made the announcement, Malfoy caught Lizzy full on in the chest with a Bludger! Absolutely disgraceful, and certainly against the rules!"

Darcy felt his insides light on fire. So Malfoy had made good on his threat. Well, Darcy believed he just might make good on a few of his own threats that he had concocted in his mind!

Phoebe and Octavius gently guided Elizabeth to the ground while Madam Hooch shouted at Malfoy. Julian Weasley and Levi White hovered behind her, bats still in hand and murderous looks upon their faces. Ezra and Siobhan bolted to the ground to be of whatever assistance they could.

Darcy's hands ached, he was gripping the edge of the bench on which he was sitting so hard. If he loosened his grip by even a small fraction, he was certain he would rocket out of his seat and curse Malfoy.

Elizabeth had been removed from her broom and laid gently on her side, though she was twitching horribly. Jane appeared, wand drawn, at the same time as Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout. Slughorn was a short distance behind them, his girth having slowed him down.

Sprout had to physically pull Jane away from her sister.

"I can't sit here any longer," said Bingley. He slammed his hand on the bench before rising from it. "I must go to Jane!"

Darcy could not pass up the opportunity to get closer to Elizabeth and took advantage of having the excuse of simply following Bingley.

"Please, Professor!" Jane said through tears. "Her lung's been punctured. I can help!"

"You are in no state to do any sort of wand work, Bennet!" Sprout said firmly. She looked past Jane to see Bingley approaching and her shoulders relaxed somewhat. "Bingley, bring Miss Bennet back to the castle. She can inform Madam Pomfrey of what's coming."

Bingley, with a perfect mixture of gentleness and firmness, took Jane's arm and guided her away.

"Out of my way, Donaldson!" shouted a petulant voice. "That is our sister, and I certainly won't let the likes of you keep us from her!" Lydia Bennet, in all her young fury, pushed Octavius out of her way and stormed onto the pitch with Kitty and Mary behind her. Darcy tacked on to the end of their line.

"Well we can't very well risk moving her in this state!" Flitwick was saying to McGonagall as the Bennets approached with Darcy.

"I am in complete agreement," said McGonagall worriedly from a crouched position by her student that was struggling to draw breath. She rose and turned, which allowed Darcy to see that the usually unshakable woman was pale and her eyes wide. "You've got to do some sort of damage control on this, Filius."

"I hesitate to do anything before Poppy can get to her," Flitwick objected.

"Professor, please," Mary pleaded. Like Jane and McGonagall, Darcy had never seen Mary so unhinged. The girl had tears running down her cheeks and was on the verge of breaking down completely. "She can't breathe, and her thoughts are getting foggy!"

Flitwick sighed heavily, then exchanged a meaningful look with McGonagall before drawing his wand and turning his attention to Elizabeth.

"Darcy, be a good lad and _run_ to the hospital wing," said McGonagall. "Whatever Madam Pomfrey is doing, Jane Bennet will take over. Bring Pomfrey _here._"

Darcy did not need to be told twice. He was under no illusions. Elizabeth's life was at stake. He could only think of one occasion where he might have run faster.

"Madam Pomfrey!" he shouted as soon as he flung open the doors to the hospital wing.

"Merlin's beard, child!" Pomfrey chided, coming out from behind a curtain. "This is a – "

"Elizabeth Bennet has taken a Bludger to the chest and needs you desperately," Darcy said through his heavy breaths. "Jane Bennet is on her way here now, and will take over whatever it is you're – "

"Nothing Jane can't handle, is what I am doing," said Pomfrey. Without hesitation, she hurried from the wing. Darcy was quick to follow her. They met Jane and Bingley in the corridor.

"Madam Pomfrey, you have to help her!" Jane very nearly sobbed upon catching sight of the matron.

"Pull yourself together, girl," said Pomfrey pragmatically. "Your sister doesn't need your tears. She needs your support."

Jane pursed her lips tightly and nodded, and Pomfrey continued on her way, closely followed by Darcy.

"Fill me in, Darcy," Pomfrey demanded as she stormed across the grounds. Students gave her a wide berth.

"I didn't see exactly what happened, Madam," Darcy admitted. "Bingley did, though, and he said that Malfoy hit a Bludger at Miss Elizabeth just after Gryffindor's win was announced."

"Where in the chest did it hit her?" Pomfrey asked.

"I'm not sure."

"Fat load of good you are," Pomfrey muttered. At a normal volume, and before Darcy could protest, she continued, "What are her symptoms?"

"She's experiencing difficulty breathing, and has been coughing up blood," Darcy readily answered. "Her sister said a lung must have been punctured."

"That seems likely," Pomfrey huffed. She asked no further questions until meeting up with Flitwick at Elizabeth's side.

Darcy stood back, well aware he had no right to approach the scene.

Elizabeth was dreadfully pale. Her lips were even a little blue. What little breathing she managed came in shallow gasps.

"Oh, what will we tell Mama and Papa?" Kitty wailed nearby.

"Absolutely _nothing_ is what we shall tell them," Lydia snapped. "Lizzy shall be fine, I'm sure! She'll not allow that boor Malfoy the satisfaction of besting her," she added with evident pride.

Darcy felt his own pride swell in his chest. Lydia was correct. Despite Elizabeth's current predicament, he was sure she would not allow Malfoy the satisfaction of maiming or killing her. He allowed himself to relax somewhat, and dared to even approach the sisters. "Is there anything I can do to be of service?"

"Thank you, Darcy," Mary answered. "No."

"They have a right to know that Lizzy's injured!" Kitty continued.

"They shall know nothing, Kitty!" Mary said firmly. "What can Mama and Papa do about it, but cause more problems? Papa knows he is powerless here and Mama would only insist on Lizzy staying home."

Kitty released a sob and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, where is that coward?" Lydia snarled, looking around the nearly empty stands. "I've already broken a nose, I think I can manage an arm or a leg!"

"Leave Ursus to me," Darcy growled.

"No, Mr. Darcy, he shall be left to me," said McGonagall, approaching from behind the group. "Me and Professor Slughorn, that is."

"La, we all know Slughorn shan't do a thing against anyone in his house!" Lydia objected.

"Even if that were so, Miss Lydia, we all know that _I _will," said McGonagall, her nostrils flaring dangerously.

"There, the bleeding's stopped!" Pomfrey announced.

All three Bennet sisters immediately assaulted the matron with questions.

"Yes, your sister will be well soon," Pomfrey said after a few moments of letting the sisters go. "The best thing you can do for her is let me tend to her without interference."

"I'll bring some of her things down to the hospital wing," said Lydia determinedly. She turned and walked away with her head held high after her announcement.

"Come, Kitty," Mary coached, seeming much more like her usual self now that something positive regarding Lizzy's condition had been proclaimed. "You and I shall go sit by the lake while we wait for news that Lizzy can entertain visitors. Perhaps we'll catch sight of the giant squid."

Kitty nodded mutely and allowed Mary to guide her away, though she looked back over her shoulder many times.

"What can I do?" Darcy asked the Hogwarts staff before him.

"You've done enough, Mr. Darcy," said Flitwick with a tired smile. "Return to Ravenclaw Tower. You've certainly earned an afternoon of rest."

"This incident involved my family, Professor, even if the relation is only by marriage," said Darcy firmly. "I must be allowed a part in its resolution."

"You've no right to anything, Darcy," said McGonagall flatly. "You've done us a large favor by fetching Madam Pomfrey. Now, go back to the castle and let us handle the rest."

Darcy gave a terse nod, not trusting himself to speak. He went back to the castle, as ordered, but he did not return to Ravenclaw Tower. Instead, he prowled about the dungeons, waiting for his prey. When Malfoy finally emerged from Slughorn's office, Darcy pounced on him and shoved him into a wall.

"What the devil is wrong with you?" Malfoy snarled, even as Darcy pressed a forearm to his windpipe.

"I could very well ask the same of you, Ursus," Darcy growled. He had to remind himself to tread carefully. As much as this was about Elizabeth, he could not let Malfoy know it. "You dishonored both our families by your actions today."

"_I_ dishonored them?" Malfoy hissed. His face was becoming red as he fought to breathe. "I'm not the one debasing my family name by associating with Mudbloods and blood traitors!"

Darcy increased the pressure he was applying to Malfoy's throat. "You attacked another person possessing magic in front of _hundreds_ of witnesses! Whatever _you_ might think of her, Elizabeth Bennet is well thought of by much of the population of Hogwarts. Her injury will _not_ be taken kindly!"

"Hogwarts is full of idiots, then!" Malfoy spat. "That Mudblood isn't worth anyone's worry!"

"Yet you spent a large portion of today's game dedicating your attention to her," Darcy shot back. The gears of his mind worked quickly. He could use this to his advantage. To Elizabeth's. "It did not go unnoticed that you used every available opportunity to try to knock her out of the air."

"I'm a Beater, it's my job!" Malfoy staunchly defended.

"It is also well known that you make a point of interacting with her in nearly every class you have together," Darcy continued. Oh, yes. This could work very well if he could spin it right, and he was sure he could. "If you are not careful, Ursus, people will begin to suspect your interests are more motivated by _personal inclinations_ than those of societal expectations."

Malfoy was so overcome by emotion he finally succeeded in shoving Darcy away from him. "I don't care if my sister married your cousin, Darcy!" he shouted. "If you ever imply something like that again, I'll rip your guts out and feed them to a bunch of pigs!"

Darcy smirked as Malfoy stomped away. His goal had certainly been accomplished. Malfoy would think twice before making another attack on Elizabeth, if only for fear of what others would think his motivation was.

* * *

Lizzy felt as though someone was sitting on her chest. Perhaps it was that unfamiliar sensation that woke her up. When she did not see the familiar hangings of her bed in Gryffindor, Lizzy stiffened. Had she been sent home? Surely not!

After a brief moment of panic, Lizzy recollected the ending of the Quidditch match, and realized she must have fainted. She tried to sit up, but a groggy voice stopped her.

"Be still, Lizzy. You'll only make things worse by trying to be up and about now."

Lizzy tilted her neck to see that Jane had scrunched herself onto the bottom half of the bed, her head resting on Lizzy's thigh.

Jane yawned as she pulled herself up, then smiled at her sister. "I am so very glad you've awakened."

"How long have I been out?" Lizzy asked, gently prodding her chest.

Jane looked at the clock on the wall. "At least eighteen hours," she answered.

Lizzy exhaled carefully. "How bad is it?"

"I've already talked with Phoebe, Josephine, and Zebulon," said Jane. "You won't be on your broom for at least a week, and they'll help you carry your books from class to class."

"I can carry my own bag, surely!" Lizzy objected.

Jane's eyes hardened. "You most certainly will _not_, Elizabeth Bennet!"

Lizzy felt her eyebrows rise. Jane was not usually firm without a measure of gentleness to counteract it.

"You very well could have died from that hit, Lizzy," Jane continued in a softer voice. "In fact, in the Muggle world, you _would_ have died. Your rib broke and punctured your lung.

"Lizzy, please, I beg you, do as I ask," Jane implored, grabbing her sister's hand firmly. "Let your body heal completely. The entire school saw you take that hit. No one will think less of you for taking it easy for a few days."

Lizzy pursed her lips unhappily, but could not deny Jane's request. "For you, Jane," she said in acceptance.

A smile broke over Jane's face. "Perhaps you agree for me at the moment, but you'll be pleased for yourself in the long run, I think," she said happily. "Breakfast only just let out a few minutes ago. Mary should have taken Kitty and Lydia to the library. Shall I go fetch them?"

Lizzy started to sigh before wincing as her tender ribs objected to the strain. "I suppose I shall see them," she said, her smile contrary to her tone.

Jane's grin widened. "While I'm gone, you can do some reading. Lydia brought your bookbag down for you."

Lizzy checked the table at the side of her bed as Jane left, and she gazed fondly at all that Lydia had fetched from her room. Perhaps Lydia's selfishness was not so firmly engrained as Lizzy had thought.

* * *

Darcy's eyes scanned the same paragraph for what must have been the seventh time. He so very desperately wanted to know how Elizabeth fared, but he was in no position to go inquire after her, himself. Instead, he had to keep himself close to Mary, Kitty, and Lydia Bennet in the hopes that he would be present when Jane finally emerged from the hospital wing to summon them.

"I can't possibly focus," said Kitty frustratedly, slamming her book shut.

Mary ripped Kitty's book back open. "You'll get more done by at least making an attempt, and you might as well try to keep your mind occupied."

"How are you not out of your mind with worry?" Kitty asked scathingly.

"I am plenty worried, Kitty," said Mary with a bit of bite. "However, I trust that Jane and Madam Pomfrey will tend carefully to Lizzy, and Jane will come to us as soon as something worth noting occurs."

"I still think you ought to hex Malfoy," Lydia mumbled.

Mary huffed. "He's got a month of detentions and has been shunned by most of the student body, Lydia. Let it be for now. If we raise our wands against him, he becomes the victim."

"Well he ought to have a taste of his own medicine!" Lydia objected.

"Mary is right, Lydia," said a new voice.

Darcy finally glanced up from his book, though only long enough to confirm it was actually Jane that spoke before burying his nose once again under the guise of reading.

"Lizzy is awake," Jane announced to her anxious sisters.

"God be praised!" Kitty sighed.

"I quite agree," said Lydia, rising and beginning to recklessly shove her things back into her bag. "Now we can stop this dull work!"

"Lydia, have some care!" Mary snapped. "You nearly spilled your ink on my essay!"

"The library is not the place for you to squabble," Jane pointed out to her sisters. "Come on, now! Lizzy is waiting!"

Darcy waited for the Bennet sisters to make their exit before sighing, leaning back in his chair, and rubbing his hand over his face. Elizabeth was awake and well enough to receive visitors. With luck, she might even return to class the next day, and Darcy could make sure Malfoy stayed far away from her.

* * *

**Author's Note**

For not leaving you with a cliffie, you're welcome. :)

I meant to update yesterday... then didn't. For the most part, I plan to stick to a Monday and Wednesday update schedule, with an occasional Thursday or Friday thrown in there. So, yes, I will update again tomorrow.

Please share your thoughts with me in a review!


	10. Chapter 10

Darcy thought the week after Malfoy's Quidditch foul on Elizabeth went exceedingly well. He was able to find several excuses to carry Elizabeth's books, walk near her, or check on her wellbeing. Since he was so close to Bingley, and Bingley so close to Jane, and Jane so close to Elizabeth, no one thought his actions were out of place. It was thought he was only being polite on account of his friend. The only person who knew differently was Mary.

Mary had taken up giving Darcy very pointed and knowing looks any time she saw him attending to Elizabeth in any form. He thought she might be judging him for not acting on his wishes, but he had made it very clear to her in his thoughts why he hesitated regarding Elizabeth. Mary did not seem impressed by his reasons, and Darcy decided he would not bother with her any longer, as she clearly did not understand his situation.

Malfoy did not place himself in Elizabeth's way at all through the entire week, which pleased Darcy immensely. Elizabeth did seek Malfoy out once, to tell him she thought they must both be satisfied by the results of the Quidditch match: Malfoy got to see what her blood was made of, and she kept her seat on her broom. Darcy had been glad he had spoken to Malfoy before. The hatred in Malfoy's eyes after the encounter was such that Darcy was sure Malfoy would have cursed Elizabeth, otherwise.

Darcy was also quite happy with the fact that Malfoy had chosen to pretend that he, Darcy, did not exist. Usually, Malfoy wheedled himself into whatever table Darcy was seated, keen to been seen rubbing elbows with someone of such an illustrious name. Darcy had found himself cursing the two years he had taken off school that allowed him and Malfoy to be in the same class on many, many occasions.

Malfoy's avoidance of Darcy also bode well for Darcy's slow-growing relationship with Elizabeth. Since he was no longer concerned about bringing Elizabeth into contact with Malfoy by his own presence, Darcy allowed himself closer proximity to the woman. He found many excuses to sit at the same table as her in class, if not directly next to her. He was exceedingly pleased with his progress.

Lizzy, completely contrary to Mr. Darcy, was absolutely enraged by the week. She was constantly being looked at as though she might break. She was not allowed to carry any of her own things. She was not able to fly at Quidditch practice. She was asked to talk about her injury – what led to it, the event itself, and the aftermath – nearly every hour.

Jane had taken to sitting with Lizzy at meals to make sure she ate enough and ate well. Kitty joined Jane and asked what she could do for Lizzy every other minute. Lydia had attached herself to her sister's side, shouting at anyone that bothered her to go away so she could heal. Lizzy could own she was pleased by the sentiment in Lydia, but found the practice to be highly irritating and distracting. Out of all her sisters, Mary was the only one who gave her space, and Lizzy was incredibly grateful for it.

Phoebe, Josephine, and Zebulon had teased Lizzy at the beginning of the week, making a show of carrying her things for her and the like, but had quickly dropped the theatrics when they saw how very angry they were making their friend. As the week progressed, they began to walk on eggshells around her, which only annoyed Lizzy all the more. She knew she was irritable and lashing out, but she found it incredibly difficult to control herself, and so became even more upset with life in general and guilty every time she saw what change in behavior she had wrought on her friends.

One of the most annoying things about the week for Lizzy, however, was Mr. Darcy's constant appearances. She had thought he was inescapable before. Now he seemed to never be out of her sight, however much she might wish him to be. Lizzy seethed quietly. Mr. Darcy had warned her toward the beginning of the year that Malfoy did not play by the rules when it suited him, and the Quidditch match had proved Mr. Darcy correct. She was sure he was constantly reminding her of her injury by offering to do different things as a way of rubbing in the fact that he was correct and she had ignored him. Hell would freeze over, however, before she admitted to Mr. Darcy that she would have done well to listen to him. She would just have to deal with his annoyances until he got tired of them and gave up.

When Lizzy was again able to do everything on her own, whenever she wished, without having to balance her desires against the fear people had for her safety, life greatly improved. The practice schedule changed, as she had planned, and so she had a night a week entirely to herself. Rather than spend that night in the library, where people frequently stopped to exchange greetings or ask her questions, Lizzy had secreted herself away in a seldom-used tower and gotten a great deal of work done. Every other week, on the night when she did not have her dueling lesson with Flitwick, she would spend the evening in the library being social as she worked.

On the third Monday Lizzy hid herself away, she simply sat and enjoyed the quiet for a few moments, allowing herself to consciously relax and take some time to organize her thoughts.

"Is the library so unsatisfactory?"

Elizabeth's eyes flew open and, in an instant, all the relaxation she had worked for vanished. "I found I wished to spend some time in quiet," she said shortly to Mr. Darcy. How had he stumbled across her? At least she had given him an easy opportunity to leave.

"I can imagine Miss Lydia has been taking up much of your time," said Mr. Darcy.

Elizabeth felt anger burning her eyes. How dare he berate Lydia! The girl had come so far in the past month. Lydia hated to do her written homework, certainly, but she practiced her spells enthusiastically and had begun to perform them well, and so was able to exchange assistance with fellow first years. She would help them with wand work, and they would help her with paperwork. And while Lydia still often said rude or thoughtless things, many times it was in defense of one of her sisters or a friend, and she had even begun to say some sensible things to balance it all out.

"Lydia is not so demanding as you might think, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth coldly. She did not want to engage any further on the subject of Lydia. She would end up saying something she would come to regret, she was sure. "You must have your own assignments to attend to, Mr. Darcy. Please do not let me keep you," she said, turning her attention to her Defense book and regretting not setting an Intruder Charm.

Mr. Darcy, apparently, took Elizabeth's words for an invitation. He sat himself opposite her and began pulling things out of his bag.

Elizabeth's grip increased to such a degree her knuckles turned white against her book. If it were not for the fact that she was determined to be civil to Mr. Darcy because of his connection to Bingley, and Jane's attachment to the same, she would have lashed out and demanded Mr. Darcy leave her in peace. Instead, she clenched her jaw shut and stubbornly set back to work. This was _her_ workspace, and she would not be made to move, nor would she do Mr. Darcy the courtesy of attempting conversation with him.

Darcy's thoughts were running an entirely different direction than Elizabeth's. His mouth felt dry and his mind was very nearly blank. He was not usually an eloquent man, but he _was_ an intelligent one. When alone with Elizabeth, however, he found himself lacking any sort of conversational skill and feeling a complete dunce.

The past weeks, when Darcy had not seen Elizabeth in the library on Mondays, he had assumed she was working in Gryffindor Tower. It was not until he overheard Lydia asking Elizabeth where she kept disappearing to that he became concerned. When he found out that this week Malfoy would be in detention with Slughorn, his concern had turned to full-blown alarm. Slughorn, while a brilliant man, was not a great disciplinarian. It would be easy work for Malfoy to slip out and find Elizabeth to get some sort of retribution. With such fears in mind, Darcy had set out immediately after dinner, which Elizabeth had left early, to find her. Now that he had located her, he was determined not to leave her unattended. He did not trust Malfoy in the slightest.

When Darcy had first set his eyes on Elizabeth, sitting peacefully with her eyes closed, he had been unable to look away and unwilling to disturb the vision before him. Eventually, however, fear of being discovered in such a state won out, and he had made himself known. When she had slyly invited him to stay, he had been elated and thought he had a wonderful opportunity to get to know her better without the added pressure of their peers milling about. If only his brain would start to function again!

Finally, after nearly three-quarters of an hour had passed, Darcy came up with a topic of conversation. "Are you and our sisters to attend the assembly at Hogsmeade on Saturday?"

"Jane will go with Bingley, I imagine," Elizabeth answered without looking up from her book. She made a note in the margin before speaking again. "Mary's said she plans to go get a few new quills, but I doubt she will go to the assembly."

Darcy waited a few moments for Elizabeth to state her own plans, but she did not. Was she trying to be coy? Such a thought made Darcy smirk slightly. He could match her in playing such a game, he was sure. "Yes, Bingley mentioned he was looking forward to the time with your sister," Darcy said. "He's made me promise to go with him." He observed Elizabeth closely to determine her reaction to the news of his attendance.

"What would an assembly be without a stone-faced gentleman stalking the perimeter of the dance floor?" Elizabeth quipped, still without lifting her gaze.

Darcy allowed himself to smile briefly. He had plans to disappoint her in being that gentleman this time. "Hopefully someone can be found to fill such a role," he hinted. He could imagine Elizabeth's blush, and thought that must be why she did not look at him. Satisfied, he returned his attention to his studies.

* * *

"I was _this_ close to hexing him!" Lizzy fumed to Phoebe and Josephine. Immediately upon her return to her dormitory, she had related the entire incident to her friends. "What?" she asked after her friends exchanged a look.

"Lizzy," said Josephine delicately, "we think you may be misinterpreting Darcy."

"I can't see how his actions can be thought of differently," Lizzy huffed.

"He likes you and he's being awkward about it," said Phoebe bluntly. "What?" she asked defensively after Josephine lightly smacked her arm. "She's being stubborn. Delicacy won't work."

Josephine rolled her eyes while Lizzy narrowed hers at her friends. "We just think you might want to consider giving him another chance, is all."

"He's had plenty of chances to show me how little he thinks of me," Lizzy snarled.

"By no means are we excusing his behavior," said Josephine. "He can certainly be rather rude and is incredibly aloof."

"That's putting it lightly," Lizzy scoffed.

"Truly, Lizzy, I think he does like you a great deal and just doesn't know how to go about it," said Josephine. "He's used to fighting off harpies, not chasing an intelligent woman."

"The two of you are being absurd," Lizzy said with an eye roll.

"It's not just us, dearie," Phoebe half-sang.

Lizzy's eyebrows nearly disappeared into her hairline. "With whom have you been spreading these lies and discussing me behind my back?" she asked furiously.

"Calm down, Lizzy," Josephine coached. "We're not starting any conversations. People have been asking."

Lizzy crossed her arms. "Well you can tell those people they're absolute loons that should be committed to St. Mungo's mental ward."

"Think of it, Lizzy," said Phoebe pragmatically. "You went far out of your way to a spot where you wouldn't be found unless someone was _actively_ looking for you. Do you _really_ think Darcy just _happened_ to come across you while wandering around?"

Lizzy shook her head and sighed. Her friends did not get it, and she was tired of explaining. She threw her hands up in aggravation before beginning to dig through her trunk.

"When this all comes to a head, it's going to be absolutely hilarious or completely terrifying," said Phoebe. "There is no middle ground. Care to place a bet on it, Jo?"

"I know better than that, Phoebe," Josephine scoffed.

Lizzy found herself almost regretting leaving her chosen study spot so soon.

* * *

"Are Jo and Phoebe not coming today?" Mary asked as she and Lizzy set out for Hogsmeade.

"They are," said Lizzy shortly.

"You ought to give them more credit than _that,_ Lizzy," Mary chastised after a moment.

Lizzy ground her teeth briefly in irritation. Sometimes Mary being able to read her mind was remarkably convenient, and at others it was remarkably annoying. "Kindly get out of my head, Mary."

"Perhaps once you've stopped being so ridiculous in regards to your closest friends, Lizzy, I will try," Mary replied. "They only want to see you happy."

"And they think _that_ would make me happy?" Lizzy said with an acidic laugh.

Mary sighed. "You are so _very_ stubborn, you know."

"Let us discuss something else," Lizzy suggested grumpily. "I'm entirely exhausted on this subject."

Mary obliged, and was kind enough to only give her sister snide sideways glances twice the rest of the way to Hogsmeade.

"Lizzy!"

Lizzy had been just about to go into the quill shop with Mary when she heard Siobhan calling her. "Do you mind, Mary?"

"Not at all," Mary answered. She turned around with Lizzy and headed toward Gryffindor's Keeper.

It wasn't until Lizzy was almost in front of Siobhan that she realized the girl was not alone.

"This is them," Siobhan said to a man beside her. He was dressed in sleek robes Lizzy recognized as being the magical adaptation of the Muggle militia's uniform. "The Bennets!"

"Should we know who you are?" Lizzy asked the stranger. If she were to say he was not handsome, she would have been lying.

"I think not, Miss," said the stranger. "George Wickham's the name."

"Wickham's part of the Ministry's initiative to meld with the Muggle military to protect them against any magical attacks. His regiment is stationed in Meryton!" Siobhan supplied. "He mentioned your parents, and so I thought you just _had_ to meet him."

"Your parents were in excellent health just two days ago when I left them," said Wickham. "Might I be so bold as to ask which of the Bennet sisters I am speaking to?"

"Elizabeth and Mary," Lizzy answered. "Our sister Jane will be here shortly, I'm sure. We would be very interested to learn how everyone is doing back home."

"Are there not five Bennet sisters?" Wickham asked.

"Kitty and Lydia, our younger sisters, are not yet old enough to come to Hogsmeade," Lizzy answered.

"What a shame," said Wickham. "Once Siobhan told me the Bennets would be here, I had hopes of dancing with all five of you!"

Lizzy laughed easily. "I'm sure Kitty and Lydia will be pleased with your sincere design. I'll pass the compliment along to them."

"What brings you to Hogsmeade, Mr. Wickham?" Mary asked, her voice heavy with intention.

Lizzy finally turned to look at her sister and was concerned to note Mary's furrowed brow and suspicious eyes.

"I've been sent on a recruiting mission," said Wickham. "The Ministry wants more wizards hidden amongst the Muggle ranks."

"Then perhaps you ought to be speaking with wizards instead of witches," said Mary flatly.

"Mary," Lizzy hissed.

"Oh, there is Jane!" Mary said, looking past Siobhan and Wickham.

Lizzy followed Mary's finger to see Jane approaching, linked with Bingley, and Mr. Darcy just slightly behind the pair.

"Jane!" Siobhan called. "Come, let me introduce you as I have done your sisters."

Jane and Bingley smiled pleasantly when Wickham turned slightly to lay eyes on them. Mr. Darcy, however, stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixed firmly on Wickham. Wickham, himself, had become rather pale. After a moment, he doffed his hat to Mr. Darcy. Mr. Darcy did not return the gesture, instead turning and walking away without a word.

Lizzy was abruptly pulled from her wonderings over the strange greeting by Mary suddenly clutching her arm. "Mary! What is it?" she asked as her usually steady sister nearly swooned.

"A random dizzy spell," Mary said breathlessly. "I'll be fine shortly, I'm sure."

"Let us find somewhere to sit," Jane immediately suggested. "Let me look you over, Mary."

"No, no, I am well, I assure you," said Mary. "Lizzy, may we go to the quill shop now?"

"Allow me to escort you," Wickham volunteered. "I should hate for you to fall in the street."

"Thank you, Mr. Wickham, my sister will support me admirably," Mary said almost rudely.

Lizzy looked apologetically to the gathered party before hurrying to catch up with Mary, who had started away.

"What has gotten into you, Mary?" Lizzy hissed, taking her sister's arm.

"I can't say," Mary answered tightly.

"Can't, or won't?" Lizzy asked shrewdly.

"I suppose either would suffice," said Mary. "I think I'll go back to Hogwarts after our stop at the store."

"If you think you must," said Lizzy. She knew she should offer to walk Mary back, but she was feeling less than charitable at the moment.

"Be careful with Wickham, Lizzy," Mary cautioned.

"What?" Lizzy asked louder than she intended. She quickly lowered her voice before continuing. "Why should you warn me against Wickham?"

"I can't read him," said Mary, "at all."

"Is that so unusual?" Lizzy asked. "You only just met him."

"Even strangers give me _something_," said Mary frustratedly. "He was _silent_. That means _occlumency, _Lizzy."

"I'm afraid I still don't understand," Lizzy said, holding the door to the shop open for her sister.

"I can't think of any _good_ reason someone would employ occlumency at all times," was all Mary said before changing her persona completely to pleasantly greet the shop's proprietor.

Lizzy chewed her cheek for a moment in thought. She could not imagine Wickham to be anything but pleasant. Mary, however, was known to think the worst of people, though she had admittedly been less judgmental since starting legilimancy. Perhaps old habits were resurfacing.

The sisters said nothing of their encounter as they looked around, chatted with the owner, and finally made their purchases. As soon as they were back out on the street, however, Mary chose her parting words purposefully.

"I am _not_ falling back on old habits, Lizzy," Mary said lowly. "Since I have started legilimancy, have I ever warned you against anyone? Have I _ever_ reacted in such a fashion as I did? Please give me some credit, Lizzy, and _be careful_." Mary sped up and was soon out of sight.

Lizzy was left in the middle of the street speechless. Mary was right, and Lizzy fully intended to apologize to her sister that evening. Until then, however, she was determined to enjoy herself as much as possible while heeding her sister's warning.

Lizzy found Jane, Bingley, Siobhan, and Wickham in _The Three Broomsticks_.

"Has Mary gone back already?" Jane asked as Lizzy sat down.

"She was eager to try out her purchases," Lizzy answered smilingly. The look Jane gave her let her know that her sister was not deceived and wanted the full truth when the opportunity presented itself.

"I suppose I shall have to satisfy myself by dancing with only two Bennet sisters," said Wickham.

"There are plenty of others that would not turn down a chance to dance, I'm sure," said Siobhan boldly.

"Wickham has been updating us on all the goings-on in Hertfordshire," said Bingley. "Things are not the same without the Bennet sisters, it seems."

"How long is your leave from the militia for this recruiting mission, Wickham?" Lizzy asked. Between Mary's warning and calling out of her own ridiculous behavior, Lizzy was much more cautious toward her new acquaintance. She did not feel particularly inclined to discuss her friends and family with him.

"That all depends on how successful I am today," said Wickham with a disarming smile.

"Well, we are certainly not doing you any favors by hiding you away here," said Bingley, rising from his seat. "Everyone is to be at Madam Puddifoot's. You'll have more success finding those that might be willing to enlist there."

As soon as Bingley started moving to offer to escort her as well as Jane, Lizzy latched onto his arm. With Mary's words still ringing in her ears, Lizzy found herself made uneasy by something in Wickham's smile. Jane noticed the uncharacteristic behavior and raised an eyebrow in question.

Once in Madam Puddifoot's, Wickham could not avoid dancing his first set with Siobhan, as he had walked her into the assembly room. Bingley left to fetch drinks for Lizzy and Jane, leaving the sisters alone on the edge of the dance floor.

Lizzy quickly related Mary's warning to Jane.

"I had wondered," Jane quietly mused. "I was disturbed by Mary's behavior, and Charles by Darcy's. There must be something more to all this."

Lizzy did not particularly care what the history between Mr. Darcy and Wickham was. Her concern, at the moment, was Wickham's proximity to her parents and all the people she had grown up with.

When the next dance was about to start, Bingley set his and Jane's glasses aside before leading her onto the dance floor. Lizzy smiled at the pair, wondering if she might occasionally be making her way to Hogsmeade for family meals next year. She would not be surprised if the pair became married before starting their seventh year.

"Has every other man been fool enough not to ask you to dance, Lizzy?" asked Wickham after dropping Siobhan off with some other friends. "Please allow me the honor!"

Lizzy gave a tense smile, partially because of her growing unease with Wickham, but also because of her annoyance with herself. Had Mary not warned her, she might have been completely flattered and even eager to dance with Wickham.

"I was surprised to see Darcy had left Beauxbatons," said Wickham after their dance had started.

"Many did," Lizzy answered evasively.

"I understand he was staying with Bingley for part of the summer at Netherfield," Wickham tried again.

"You understand correctly."

Undeterred by Lizzy's reluctance, Wickham flashed his charming smile again. "Bingley is thought of well. His elder sister, Mrs. Hurst, and her husband have become somewhat integrated into Hertfordshire society. Darcy, however, is another story. I'm given to understand his reputation has to do with some interaction with you?"

Lizzy was so surprised by Wickham's statement she nearly stumbled. "Whatever reputation Mr. Darcy has in Hertfordshire, he earned himself, I assure you."

"I'm hardly surprised he isn't thought of well," said Wickham. "I commend your judgement."

Lizzy thought it rather bold of Wickham to speak so freely amongst strangers.

"Mr. Darcy and I grew up together, you see," said Wickham. "My father was his father's steward."

"I hear Pemberley is a beautiful place." Lizzy felt herself scrambling to change the subject. "It must have been nice to explore such an estate as a child. Did you attend Beauxbatons?"

Had Lizzy not already been on her guard, she might have missed Wickham's hesitation.

"I did attend for a year or two," Wickham answered. He showed his teeth in a grin again. In that moment, Lizzy recognized it as an attempt to distract her. "I had hoped to finish my training, either there or at Hogwarts, as the older Mr. Darcy had intended for me, but such was not to be."

Lizzy could tell that Wickham wanted to enquire further on the subject of the older Mr. Darcy, but she found herself in no mood to humor him. She was, however, curious how much more rope Wickham would gather with which to hang himself. "That is unfortunate," was all she said in reply.

Wickham, encouraged by an expression of sympathy, continued on, "Old Mr. Darcy cared very much for me. He was my godfather, in fact. When my father became ill, Old Mr. Darcy arranged for me to transfer from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts so I could be closer to my father. After his death, I decided to take some time off from school to become adjusted to my new situation. Just when I felt ready to get back to class, Old Mr. Darcy died, also. It was a great tragedy."

"I can imagine," Lizzy said noncommittally. Why was Wickham, a complete stranger to her, telling her his life story?

"I had hoped to return to Beauxbatons and finish my education after Old Darcy died, but the latest Mr. Darcy refused me the funds," Wickham said with a mixed air of misery and expectation.

"You might have returned to Hogwarts," Lizzy suggested.

Wickham coughed. "I found the idea exceedingly trying. I would have been painfully reminded of my dear father constantly."

"How did you go about finishing training?" Lizzy asked. "Surely the Ministry would not hire an unqualified wizard to keep the Muggle military from being attacked by other wizards?"

Unfortunately for Lizzy, but fortunately for Wickham, the dance ended just at that moment. Wickham bowed, made a hasty excuse, and disappeared into the crowd.

"You seem perturbed," Jane observed when the sisters reunited.

"Perhaps because I am," said Lizzy. She quickly and quietly related her conversation.

Jane furrowed her brows. "That was highly inappropriate of him, by Muggle or magical standards," she said. "Let us be grateful Lydia is not here to be charmed by him."

"Who are you and what have you done with my sweet sister that always thinks the best of others, especially her sisters?" Lizzy asked mockingly.

"Stop it, Lizzy," Jane chided with a smile. "You know perfectly well what I mean. You've been doing wonderfully with Lydia, and she's come a long way, but she is still young and foolish."

"I don't believe I've ever heard you speak so plainly about the faults of another," Lizzy observed.

"Perhaps being Head Girl and dealing with various disciplinary issues has opened me to seeing more faults," Jane said. "I still wish to think well of people, but I have learned that, sometimes, it is more of a cruelty than a kindness to bury a person's failings."

Lizzy looked at her elder sister with true concern.

Jane sighed. "This is no place for this conversation," she said somewhat irritably. "I find myself tired today. Would you be willing to return to Hogwarts early with me?"

Lizzy eagerly agreed, and she and Jane found Bingley. Jane assured him she was well and encouraged him to enjoy his day out on his own. The two sisters were able to walk back without another soul in hearing range.

"Please elaborate on y our earlier statement, Jane," Lizzy encouraged.

Jane sighed and stared at her feet for a few moments before answering. "My revelation traces to Malfoy, I suppose."

"_Malfoy_?" Lizzy blurted. "What does he have to do with all this?"

"Oh, Lizzy," Jane said, tears suddenly in her eyes. "I knew he was saying horrible things to you, and to some others, but I brushed it off. I told myself he was just adjusting to a new school and trying to find his place. That he wasn't serious and he would adjust with time. But after the Quidditch match, while I was taking care of you, I found I couldn't make excuses anymore."

Lizzy stopped walking to pull her sister into a hug.

"I was so angry at myself, Lizzy," Jane said into Lizzy's shoulder. "What if I had done that in the Muggle world? Excused someone's poor behavior until they lashed out? What if we really were Muggles, and someone attacked you like that? I would have _lost_ you, Lizzy!"

"But you didn't lose me, Jane," Lizzy soothed. "What could you have done against Malfoy, anyway? He is determined to humiliate and cause me harm."

"There is a great deal I can and _will_ do against him," said Jane with a ferocity Lizzy had never heard before from her sweet sister. "I choose not to make excuses anymore, Lizzy. If I see something inappropriate, I will address it head on."

* * *

_Richard, _

_He's here. Come immediately._

_-Darcy_

* * *

**Author's Note**

Dun -dun- DUUUUNNN!

I hope you're continuing to enjoy the story!


	11. Chapter 11

Lizzy spent the entirety of her Sunday with Jane, and only Jane, which had become rather a rarity. Jane had sent Bingley away for the day. The sisters spent a great deal of their time outside alternating between tending to assignments and gazing up at the sky while talking of various things. Lizzy was able to start adjusting to this new version of her sister.

"I worry about Caroline," Jane sighed during one of their cloud gazing sessions.

"How so?" Lizzy asked. She had been lying with her eyes closed, but snapped them open and rolled onto her side to face Jane.

"I'm worried that she is unwilling to change, and what that will mean for Charles's future, and for mine." The last she said quietly, but Lizzy was not surprised and chose to ignore it for the time being.

"I'm curious what _you_ think Caroline's unwillingness to change will mean for Charles's future," Lizzy continued to dig.

"Charles is capable of change," said Jane, "and he's done quite a bit of it since coming to Hogwarts. He and Caroline fight more often than not, now. I fear some argument will occur that causes a rift between them."

"Would that be such a bad thing?" Lizzy asked with an amused quirk of her brow.

Jane quickly looked at Lizzy with anger, but upon catching the mischievous look on her sister's face began to chuckle, instead. "I once thought she and I might be good friends," Jane said after sobering. "Now, I don't think I would mourn the loss of her presence from my life. Charles, on the other hand, would never be able to reconcile himself to parting from his sister. It would eat at him."

Lizzy sighed. "Well, whatever your future with Charles may turn out to be," she said with a shrewd and pointed look, "you are not yet in a position where you should interfere with the Bingley family affairs."

Jane raised herself to her elbows and looked around quickly before answering quietly, "But I should very much like the Bingley family affairs to be in order _before_ I am in such a position as to have an effect on them."

"If only wishing made it so, Jane," Lizzy laughed. After a moment of companionable silence, she asked, "I assume you and Charles have discussed what the future might hold? At length?"

Jane blushed slightly and played with a blade of grass. "That would be a fair assumption."

"I suppose I shall have to take on a few extra tutoring sessions, then, to purchase my gown to stand up with you," Lizzy said with exaggerated exasperation. "Then again, I may just as well wear my oldest, rattiest gown, for no one shall be paying me any attention, and I doubt anything could happen to ruin your enjoyment of that day."

Jane playfully pushed her sister and they laughed a few moments longer before flipping onto their bellies to resume working on assignments.

* * *

Darcy restlessly paced the floor of the room he had rented in Hogsmeade for his cousin. After catching sight of Wickham, he had immediately returned to Hogwarts and sent Hootsworth off with a note demanding Fitwilliam's assistance, then set off for Flitwick's office to obtain permission to stay off the grounds on Sunday.

"Needed at Pemberley, are you?" Flitwick had asked. "Do you intend to use the floo network or take one of your thestrals?"

"Neither, Professor," Darcy had answered. "I am not to Pemberley. I am to Hogsmeade. A matter of some delicacy has occurred that I must discuss in person with my cousin, Major Richard Fitzwilliam."

"I should like some more details, Mr. Darcy, before granting your request," Flitwick had said. His voice was pleasant, but Darcy could tell he would not be moved.

Darcy had breathed heavily through his nose and taken a moment to collect himself before answering. "Today in Hogsmeade I saw someone that has caused my family a great deal of harm. When last we saw each other, we came to an understanding," he had said with gritted teeth. _Understanding_ was not his first choice of words. "I intend to see he honors that."

Flitwick had gazed intently at Darcy for several moments. "I will communicate with Professor Dumbledore that you have a family emergency requiring you to be off grounds. You are, however, not to miss your classes on Monday, barring some truly catastrophic event."

Darcy scoffed to the empty room. Catastrophic events were Wickhams's specialty. Darcy was almost hopeful Wickham would give him or Fitzwilliam the excuse to kill him. Once, Darcy might have felt remorse for such a thought. After his last encounter with Wickham, however, any lingering affection for the man had burned away. Darcy had tried to honor the spirit of his father's last wishes for Wickham, but was now willing to settle for following the letter of the will, instead. And that had already been satisfied.

The door opened with a bang.

"Where is that cowardly dog?" Fitzwilliam growled. "Wands or swords, I'll kill him this time, and nothing you say will be able to convince me to do otherwise!"

Darcy strode across the room, shut the door, and put some protective charms on it. "If it weren't for Georgiana, Fitzwilliam, I would be only too happy to step aside and let you do whatever you wish to the scoundrel."

Fitzwilliam ripped off his outer layer of robes, then threw himself into a chair. "Let's have the details, then."

"Good morning, by the way," Darcy said drily.

Fitzwilliam waved Darcy's greeting away irritably.

"I saw him here, in Hogsmeade, yesterday during a Hogwarts student excursion."

Fitzwilliam's eyes went wide. "He wasn't after any of the students, was he?"

Darcy's expression, if possible, darkened further. After his discussion with Flitwick, he had hurried back to Hogsmeade to see if he could gather more details. When he had failed to see Wickham in the streets, he had gone into Madam Puddifoot's. He had been filled with such rage at seeing his Elizabeth dancing with Wickham he had turned and made a hasty exit before he could make a scene that would cause more problems than it would solve.

"He is definitely endearing himself to the female population," Darcy ground out.

Fitzwilliam looked his cousin over keenly and seemed on the verge of asking a question before reconsidering. "Did you find out what his business is?"

"No," Darcy grudgingly admitted.

"How long he's been here?" Fitzwilliam tried again.

"Less than a week," Darcy answered. "He was not here the Saturday past."

"Are students to be about this upcoming Saturday, as well?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Every weekend," Darcy confirmed.

"Blast! If it weren't for that, we could just wait for him to run up debts, buy them, and deal with him that way."

"There is another way," said Darcy.

Fitzwilliam raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to allow me to curse him into the afterlife?"

"He's joined the militia," Darcy said after allowing himself a moment to smirk at his cousin's dark humor.

"The militia?" Fitzwilliam repeated, jumping out of his seat. "This is wonderful! I've some connections that can surely be convinced to change Wickham's assignment. I can get him sent to tend to a unit on the front, though I would hate to put those poor Muggle sods under the protection of his self-serving wandwork. Perhaps I can instead get him sent to a colo – You said he was talking with students?"

"Yes," Darcy answered, rather confused by the abrupt change in thought.

"And Bingley's at Hogwarts now too, yes?"

"That's correct," Darcy answered. "He may have conversed with Wickham at some length. I'm not sure."

Fitzwilliam began putting his outer robes back on. "Go talk to Bingley and get all the details you can from him. I'm going back to the Ministry to talk with my superiors about this. Don't worry; I won't give them any explicit details. They trust me well enough that my word should convince them. We'll meet back here in two hours."

Darcy walked out of the inn with his cousin, watched him disapparate, and then set off for Hogwarts at a quick pace. As he walked, his thoughts began to spiral out of control. He had worked so hard in the past year and a half to bring some semblance of normalcy to his and Georgiana's lives. Now that normalcy was on the verge of collapsing, all because George Wickham had reared his cursed head again.

Darcy's thoughts had begun to turn to the darkest corners of his mind when he heard a familiar, comforting sound. He grasped it like a lifeline, using it to pull himself back to safety. As his eyes landed on Elizabeth, her head thrown back in laughter, he found himself surprised he had already gotten back to Hogwarts. Before he could think through the consequences of his actions, Darcy changed direction to head for the eldest Bennet sisters.

"Darcy!" Jane called, waving as he approached. "Good morning! Have you been off grounds?"

"I went through the required channels before making such a venture, Miss Bennet, I assure you," Darcy answered.

Elizabeth crossed her legs and pulled a book into her lap, thus hiding her face from Darcy. He longed for her to look up. Seeing her smile always improved his mood, and he needed that now desperately.

"You look unwell, Darcy," Jane said concernedly. "Is everything alright?"

Darcy chose not to answer. "Have you any idea where Bingley is? I saw the pair of you and assumed he must be nearby."

"No, I am determined to give Lizzy my undivided attention as much as possible today," Jane said with an affectionate smile towards her sister.

Elizabeth looked up from her book to return Jane's smile, and Darcy felt his shoulders relax slightly.

"Did he give you any idea of how he intended to pass his time?" Darcy asked. "I should like to talk to him as soon as possible."

"I'm afraid I can't give you an answer," Jane said. "What is it you need to discuss with him? Perhaps I could be of some assistance."

Darcy looked across the grounds as he considered his options. Bingley could be any number of places: the library, the Quidditch pitch, the Hufflepuff common room, an empty classroom. He checked his pocket watch. Half an hour of his time was already gone. He did not wish to waste what was left looking for Bingley when he very well may not find him in enough time to get all the details required. "May I sit?" he asked finally.

Jane touched her sister's knee and the two shared a conversation conveyed entirely by small changes in facial expressions. Finally, Jane gestured to the grass in front of her.

Darcy settled himself and tried not to fidget with his hands or the grass. Despite being in such an open space, his current predicament felt rather intimate. He even began to wish he could receive some comfort from Elizabeth, which led to his problems slamming back to the forefront of his mind.

"You met a man in Hogsmeade yesterday," Darcy started.

Jane nodded. "Wickham."

Darcy chose his next words carefully. "Did he happen to state his business?"

"What concern is it of yours, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked with raised brows.

Darcy suddenly felt as if he had been punched in the gut. Had Wickham already gotten into Elizabeth's head? The thought of her siding with Wickham made him feel physically ill. He attempted to swallow, but his throat was dry. "I am acquainted with Mr. Wickham," he said finally.

"I've heard," said Elizabeth.

Darcy bit his tongue to keep from making a reply in anger. So Wickham _had_ gotten to her. He would have to navigate that mess at a later time. Right now, he had to concern himself with Georgiana.

"Would you share with me your interactions?" Darcy asked Jane. He did not think he could bear to hear of Elizabeth recounting her dance with the cad. "Please," he added quietly. Had he been looking at Elizabeth, he would have noted her expression of shock at his last word.

Jane set about explaining that Wickham was on a recruitment mission with no specified date of completion. She continued with the tale of how Wickham was already familiar with her family, as he was with a company of Muggle militia quartered at Meryton for the winter.

Darcy found himself incredibly grateful the Bennet sisters were all at Hogwarts. He did not care to think of what might have happened had they been home for Wickham to prey upon.

"Might I ask how you are acquainted with Mr. Wickham?" Jane dared to inquire.

Darcy might have refused, had he not glanced at Elizabeth to see her at rapt attention. He considered his explanation carefully. "His father was my father's steward. We grew up together, but have since grown apart."

"And your current interest in him is due to what?" Elizabeth asked.

Darcy grit his teeth. He could not refuse Elizabeth, especially since she so rarely directly asked him anything. "We have some business that I believed was concluded, but may need to be revisited.

"Has there ever before been a recruiter come to talk to Hogwarts students?" Darcy plowed on quickly before Elizabeth could ask further questions.

Elizabeth and Jane looked at each other, again exchanging a silent conversation, before Jane replied, "No, there hasn't been."

"With the various political upheavals, I'm sure the Ministry is simply looking ahead in a rare moment of clarity," Elizabeth said with a snort.

"Did Wickham give the impression of sticking around for long?" Darcy asked. Had circumstances been different, he would have loved to engage Elizabeth in a conversation on politics. She surely had fresh, interesting views to offer.

"I would say yes," Jane replied after a moment's consideration.

"Did he say anything about coming onto the grounds, or is he to conduct his operation at Hogsmeade?"

"Merlin's beard, I hope he keeps to Hogsmeade," said Elizabeth. She then threw her hand over her mouth as if she had not meant to say as much aloud.

Darcy snapped his gaze to Elizabeth, hope welling in his chest. Maybe she was not in as much danger as he thought. He looked intently into her eyes, begging her to elaborate.

"I should hate for Lydia and Kitty to lose all the progress they've made toward being sensible creatures by coming into contact with a man in uniform," Elizabeth said quietly after looking between Darcy and her sister several times.

Jane laughed lightly and made a reply to her sister, but Darcy did not catch it. Elizabeth was worried about her sisters' reactions. Not about Wickham himself.

"Tell me, Mr. Darcy," Jane asked after a few more words with her sister, pulling the man from his thoughts, "what can _you_ say of Mr. Wickham? So far, it has been us providing all the details."

Darcy drew his brows in confusion. Never had he heard Jane be so direct. "My dealings with Wickham are a private matter, and I should like to keep it that way."

"And why is that, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked. Her tone was light, but Darcy could sense great danger, should he reply incorrectly.

"I am a private person, Miss Elizabeth," he finally settled on. "I do not like to bandy my dealings about so they might become fodder for gossips."

Darcy looked down at his watch, and so missed the shocked and affronted expression on Elizabeth's face. He stood as he stowed his watch back away. "Thank you, for answering my questions," he said to the sisters. "I must be off again, however. Enjoy the rest of your day."

"As if we should gossip about _him!" _Lizzy fumed once Mr. Darcy was out of earshot.

"I doubt we are the ones he's concerned about, Lizzy," said Jane lightly, dipping a quill in ink.

"But it was we who asked, and we he denied," Lizzy insisted.

"At no point in time – in common occurrences, anyway – is a person required to share more than they would like, Lizzy," said Jane. "Darcy may share what he wishes with whom he wishes and withhold the same.

"Why should you care, anyway?" Jane continued. "We've agreed not to trust Wickham, and that it was incredibly inappropriate of him to say all that he did to you."

"Curse your ever-sensible mind, Jane," Lizzy said sullenly. "Can't you simply be upset with me?"

Jane chuckled. "Lizzy, if I were to be upset along with you, you would do something impulsive and foolish."

Lizzy turned her head toward Jane so quickly her neck popped. "Me? Foolish?"

"Yes," said Jane, only half paying attention now, as she was tending to an Astronomy chart. "You like to jump to conclusions, Lizzy, and that often results in the formation of stubborn opinions based on only part of the truth. Foolish, indeed."

Lizzy stuttered for a few moments. "Perhaps I don't like this new, forthcoming version of Jane that will point out a person's flaws!"

Jane smiled sweetly as she glanced up from her Astronomy. "A person has to know their flaws, Lizzy, to fix them."

Lizzy allowed herself a few more moments to stare blankly at her working sister before sullenly returning her attention to an essay.

* * *

"There, I've spoken long enough," said Darcy to his cousin after relating the highlights of his conversation with the Bennets. "It is your turn, now."

Fitzwilliam, upon returning from the Ministry, had refused to say anything, thus forcing Darcy to launch into his tale. The entire time Darcy spoke, Fitzwilliam had sat with his elbow on his knee and his face in his hand.

"Miss Bennet will be pleased to hear that Wickham is not currently permitted on Hogwarts grounds, nor is any other member of the Magical Military Unit, for the purposes of recruiting," Fitzwilliam said to the floor.

"I gather your meetings did not go well," Darcy ventured.

"They neither went well nor poorly," Fitzwilliam sighed. He rearranged himself so he was slouching in his seat, but able to see his cousin. "I had no success in getting Wickham removed from his current assignment. My superiors believe I am too close to the situation, considering how long I've been cursed with knowing the man, and have ordered me to keep away from him, for the time being. They have, however, assured me that they will begin an investigation into possible debts and other disgraces to the uniform as regards Wickham within the next twenty-four hours."

"You trust they will actually do this?" Darcy asked after a moment of pacing and processing.

"If I didn't, would I be here speaking with you right now?" Fitzwilliam asked dully.

"Will they investigate his dealing with Muggles, also?"

"Most definitely," Fitzwilliam answered. "We are supposed to protect the Muggles we are assigned to, as well as Muggle communities at large."

"And his punishment?" Darcy asked. "When they discover all his debts and his latest illegitimate children?"

"General Matheson has been looking for men to take to Australia," said Fitzwilliam. He kicked his chair back onto two legs and had a mildly pleased look upon his face, now. "It's been a struggle. There are, currently, no wizards among the military there, and the magical natives can do remarkably fierce things without the aid of a wand. Until a solution can be created, the assignment might as well be a death sentence."

"Well I should infinitely prefer his blood be spilt by some criminal, which would be exceedingly fitting, or by a native than by you," said Darcy. "I should hate for you to mar your soul with murder."

Fitzwilliam raised an eyebrow. "Just what is it you think I do for a living, Darcy?"

"Apparently, not what I thought," Darcy quipped. "How long do you think it will be before he is given his new assignment?"

"I'd wager less than a fortnight."

"Excellent," said Darcy. "When you return to London, please convey my demands that Georgiana not be left unattended at _any_ moment. I imagine Wickham will become like a rabid dog when he hears of his new assignment, and I will _not_ give him the opportunity to sink his teeth into Georgie again." The last was said with such ferocity that anyone but Fitzwilliam would have cowered away.

"Of course," said Fitzwilliam with a nod of acknowledgement. He and Darcy both knew Wickham was very likely to act in desperation and spent the next hour predicting what might happen and how to take preemptive counter measures.

"Should I be in Hogsmeade this Saturday, do you think?" Fitzwilliam asked.

Darcy deliberated for several moments before answering, "I think not. Should Wickham see you, he will know his time is running short. He likely still thinks he can manipulate _me_, that I have sympathy for him or care for him on my father's behalf."

"And do you?" Fitzwilliam asked.

Darcy's face hardened. "I do not."

"Good," said Fitzwilliam, slapping his thighs and rising, "because his future is a bleak one and I should hate for you to lose sleep over it."

"It is his own doing," said Darcy. "He has had opportunities the average person could only dream of, and he cast them aside carelessly."

"Keep telling yourself that truth, Darcy," said Fitzwilliam in all sincerity, staring into the eyes of his cousin. "Though you may hide it from the rest of the world, I know how much you truly care about people, how you constantly wish them to have opportunities to do better."

"I am well aware of the fact that Wickham has only used the opportunities my family has given him to harm others," Darcy said in reply, his face like stone. "He is a disease that must be eliminated."

"And yet you insist I be denied the pleasure of eliminating him," Fitzwilliam teased, content with Darcy's assurances.

Darcy smiled grimly. "He does not deserve the distinction of being killed by you."

Fitzwilliam puffed out his chest and put on his most pompous air. "Very true, old boy!" he said in a most exaggerated manner. "I am a decidedly distinguished person. As such, I have wasted too much of my time on such a lowly being as yourself. I must demand that you take your leave!"

Darcy rolled his eyes at his cousin's theatrics. "Do be careful not to hit your overly large head on the door on your way out." More seriously, he added, "Remember, Georgiana is – "

"Not to be unattended," Fitzwilliam finished, still in character. "I, as a man of such distinction and merit, shall, of course, be certain my ward is looked after most attentively. Be gone with you, man!"

As Darcy made his way back to Hogwarts, he wondered how he might introduce Elizabeth to Fitzwilliam, so she could teach him his own insignificance. Despite the amusement that the thought of Elizabeth setting down Fitzwilliam gave, Darcy dismissed it thoroughly before long. Fitzwilliam was much more socially apt than Darcy, and Darcy did not particularly like the idea of Elizabeth bestowing her smiles and laughter on his cousin.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Lizzy had first seen Mr. Wickham. Unfortunately, she had been forced to endure him at Hogsmeade since. While she had first been cautious of him on Mary's insistence, his succeeding behavior had made her mistrust turn to true disgust. Not only was Wickham continually attempting to garner the sympathies of Hogwarts students by bemoaning his past, but he spent an inordinate amount of time with the female population. Considering the nature of what his business in Hogsmeade ought to have been, Lizzy was greatly upset by this.

"Oh, calm down, Lizzy," Siobhan chastised. "Spends all day with men, he does. Who can fault him for some flirting?"

"I can," Lizzy came back with harshly, "especially when he is flirting with those that are underage when he is decidedly _not_ so."

"He's only two and twenty," Siobhan said with a shrug. "He's not that much past our age."

"The differences between a seventeen-year-old student like yourself and a man of two and twenty out in the world are more significant than you think, Siobhan," Lizzy argued. "He's here, supposedly, to get more _men_ to join the ranks of the magical military. I doubt he could name more than five people meeting such requirements, but I am willing to bet good money he could name nearly all of the sixth and seventh year girls."

"Missish," said Siobhan. "That's what you're being."

"Perhaps so," Lizzy conceded. "But I would rather be missish than be taken advantage of."

Siobhan rolled her eyes and made her way to Wickham to exchange greetings.

"Some help would have been nice," said Lizzy, rounding on Josephine and Phoebe.

"You know we agree with you, Lizzy," said Josephine.

"Dealing with your temper is bad enough," said Phoebe, with a great deal less tact than Josephine had been attempting, "we don't want to deal with Siobhan's, also. We've all seen what she's like when she lets loose."

Lizzy pursed her lips in irritation.

"There's that temper," said Phoebe teasingly. "Come, Jo, let's get her some food, before her ire is further raised by hunger!"

Lizzy rolled her eyes and allowed herself to smile as she was ushered into _The Three Broomsticks_ by her friends.

"Lizzy!" Jane called, seated with Bingley. Lizzy made her way over and sat, along with her friends. "Charles has just had the most wonderful idea," Jane gushed once all were settled.

"Do tell, Bingley," said Phoebe. "I've hardly ever seen Jane in such a state."

Lizzy rather agreed, and looked her sister over carefully to notice a certain light in her eyes and a slight tinge of pink in her cheeks. She raised her eyebrow at Jane, whose blush deepened, but she did not shy away.

"I have decided that, upon returning to Hertfordshire for the holidays, I shall throw a ball at Netherfield," Bingley declared.

Lizzy broke into a wide grin. She felt confident Bingley and Jane would share some monumental news at the event. "That sounds wonderful, Bingley," she said in all sincerity. "The neighborhood shall be even more enamored of you. They may even refuse to let you leave after providing them with such entertainment."

"I believe I could make such an arrangement work," said Bingley good naturedly.

"Your ball will be in the Muggle style, then?" Josephine asked interestedly.

"There are hardly enough witches and wizards in the area for it to be otherwise," Bingley answered.

Lizzy looked skyward, already knowing what was about to happen.

"I should find it ever so fascinating to attend a Muggle ball," said Phoebe wistfully.

"It would be a great practical application of things learned in Muggle Studies," Josephine agreed.

"I should be happy to grant you such an opportunity," Bingley said with a great smile. "You must come, of course! In fact, I think I shall insist on each of the Bennet sisters inviting a particular friend."

"Well, Lizzy, who shall it be?" Phoebe asked pointedly while Josephine raised an eyebrow.

"Lizzy, of course, shall be permitted two guests," Bingley said with a laugh. "I won't be the cause of strife between her and her closest friends."

Struck by a somewhat cruel thought, Lizzy said, "It would be strange for me to have two guests while my sisters only had one. Perhaps Caroline could be convinced to have Phoebe or Josephine masquerade as _her_ guest."

"An excellent notion, Lizzy," Bingley agreed. There was a certain light in his eyes that told Lizzy he understood her intentions perfectly. Caroline currently spent most of her time with Aquila Black, a particularly unpleasant person that would, undoubtedly, ruin the festivities with her presence.

Unsurprisingly, conversation among the table centered solely on the upcoming ball.

"Zebulon!" Josephine greeted when he approached the table. "We've just been discussing the most delightful thing – "

"I'm sure you have been, and that you'll tell me all about it," Zebulon interrupted. "That'll have to wait. Put down that fork, Lizzy. You're wanted."

"For what?" Lizzy asked suspiciously. She was rather enjoying her meal and was not eager to have it disturbed by bad news.

"Wickham started going on about his dueling skills," said Zebulon, rolling his eyes. He, along with many other sensible young men, had become rather irritated with Wickham's cries for sympathy and wondering eyes in regards to their female classmates. "Naturally, we challenged him. He's agreed, but says he'll only duel once. You're our chosen champion, so let's go."

A smirk crept onto Lizzy's face. She was happy to put Wickham in his place, and knew she was quite capable, as did her classmates. They were all also aware, however, that being defeated by a woman would be that much more humiliating for Wickham, considering how well he believed himself able to manipulate them.

Lizzy wiped her mouth and stood. "I shall be happy to accompany you, Zebulon."

"Lizzy, I do not think this is a good idea," Jane cautioned.

"I shall be back before my food grows cold, Jane, and none the worse for wear," said Lizzy soothingly. "This is a common occurrence amongst incompetent duelers. They boast of their skills and, when challenged, say they shall only fight once in the hopes that some poor sod as incompetent as themselves will volunteer on an impulse. I'm sure Wickham is already very nervous with the fact that deliberation was made as to his opponent."

Jane huffed and rose from her seat with an uncharacteristically stubborn expression. "If you insist on engaging in a duel, I insist on being there."

Lizzy raised her eyebrows slightly in surprise, but then shrugged and accepted Zebulon's escort. On Lizzy's instruction, they quickly located Flitwick, who was chaperoning that day, so she could obtain his permission to duel. He easily gave his approval. Though he did not say so explicitly, Lizzy was sure Flitwick knew Wickham would not present much of a challenge or any danger to someone so competent as her.

"Ah, there's our champion!" Albert cried when Lizzy came into view on Zebulon's arm. The duel was to happen just outside Hogsmeade, assuring no innocent passersby would be hit by a wayward spell.

"Lizzy?" Wickham said in surprise. "Lizzy is your champion? The girl's so slight a simple levitation charm would do her in!"

"That's 'Miss Elizabeth' to you," Albert snarled, turning on Wickham.

"I assure you, Mr. Wickham, that I will not be blown away by a gust of wind," Lizzy said calmly.

"I had thought to duel a future colleague," Wickham tried again.

"And perhaps you might have, had you been willing to duel more than once," Lizzy countered.

* * *

Darcy journeyed to Hogsmeade in record time. He had been prevented from getting to the town on the previous weekend owed to his attention being needed at Pemberley. His departure had been delayed this morning by urgent letters from his steward and a communication from his Aunt Matlock. He had rather hoped for news from Fitzwilliam, but such had not come.

Darcy had become remarkably more irritable than usual since Wickham's arrival in Hogsmeade. In fact, he had hardly spoken to another human except to ward them off in the past two weeks. Occasionally, he heard Wickham's name spoken by others, and, try though he might to do otherwise, he always shot a burning glare at those involved in the discussion. His one consolation was that he had not heard Elizabeth speak the most accursed name.

"…had you been willing to duel more than once."

Darcy raised his head and turned in the direction of the voice carried by the wind. Before long, he came upon the sight of Elizabeth standing across from Wickham, surrounded by several sixth and seventh year boys. Jane stood a little off to the side with Bingley.

"What is the meaning of this?" Darcy asked harshly, joining Jane and Bingley from behind.

"It seems Wickham's been bragging about his dueling skills, and has been taken up on the opportunity to demonstrate. Lizzy's been chosen as his opposition," Bingley supplied.

"Is that wise?" Darcy asked. He desperately wanted an excuse to interfere. Wickham would lose, and he would not take it well.

"Lizzy can handle herself," said Jane, her gaze steady upon her sister. "She's so _stubborn_," she added angrily.

"You spoke correctly, Jane," Bingley soothed, "as did Lizzy. She'll be fine."

"I'll take Thomas as my second," Wickham declared with a smirk, pointing at Zebulon. "Who will yours be, then?"

"I shan't need a second, Mr. Wickham," said Elizabeth sweetly. She took up position the required distance away and removed her wand from her sleeve in a decidedly unbothered fashion.

Darcy felt as if there was an invisible rope tied to his person, pulling him toward Elizabeth. Her calm in the face of such a situation was incredibly endearing and just one more thing to add to the list of reasons he wanted her.

Albert Bentham volunteered to oversee the duel, stated the expectations clearly, and positioned himself appropriately.

Jane's hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Bingley's tightly. Bingley smiled slightly and squeezed her hand in reassurance.

Darcy, though intent on watching Elizabeth, witnessed the entire exchange between the couple beside him and felt a flare of jealousy.

"Engage!" Albert finally cried.

Elizabeth attacked with the quickness and strength Darcy had become quite accustomed to through the course of their dueling lessons. That Wickham was surprised by her skill was evident, and he lost quite a bit of ground. The smile he had upon his face fell, and he grit his teeth as he planted his feet and began to take the duel seriously. Unfortunately for Wickham, his initial lackadaisical approach had significantly handicapped him and made gaining the upper hand nearly impossible.

After a mere minute, Elizabeth stood with two wands in hand, barely breathing heavier than normal.

"Well, Wickham, you gave it your best," said Zebulon with barely concealed sarcasm, "but you just weren't a match for little Lizzy Bennet."

"I'm sure she'd be willing to go for best out of three," said Albert, looking at Elizabeth in question.

"Certainly," said Elizabeth, beginning to make her way to return Wickham's wand.

"That won't be necessary."

Everyone present turned to observe the person that went with the new voice.

Darcy felt a smile of grim satisfaction slink across his face. Major Fitzwilliam had arrived, flanked by four other members of the magical military. The blood drained from Wickham's face.

"Who might you be?" Albert asked, stepping in front of all his classmates, wand hand in his pocket.

"Major Richard Fitzwilliam, at your service, sir," said Fitzwilliam. "I'm afraid I shall have to deprive you of the pleasure of seeing this young lady duel Lieutenant Wickham a second time, as he is needed elsewhere."

"What?" Wickham burst, color returning to his face in the form of an unflattering red.

"Yes, Lieutenant Wickham," said Fitzwilliam with a slow smile. "You've been reassigned. I am here to take over recruiting." He held a letter bearing a general's seal up for all to see. "General Matheson has ordered your assistance."

Wickham paled again, then looked to the group around him as if hoping for help. When his eyes landed on Darcy's hard face, he closed his hanging jaw and had the nerve to display a pleading expression.

Darcy responded merely by turning his head away.

"Matheson," said Albert thoughtfully. "Isn't he the one headed to Australia next month?"

"The very same!" said Fitzwilliam cheerfully. "Keep up with military news, do you?" He gestured to the men behind him, then approached Albert to better engage in conversation.

"I won't go!" Wickham declared as Fitzwilliam's men converged on him.

Fitzwilliam's pleasing air dropped in an instant, and he looked every inch the harsh military commander his position required. He took even, measured steps until he stood directly in front of Wickham. "Well, _Lieutenant_, you have before you two choices," he said icily. "You can follow your orders or you can desert and be hunted down like an animal, then face the penalty for desertion, and you know what that penalty is."

"I'll get you for this," Wickham hissed, looking first at Fitzwilliam, then at Darcy.

One of the men surrounding Wickham punched him in the gut as he scolded Wickham for disrespecting a superior officer.

"Take him way, gentlemen,"' said Fitzwilliam in an unconcerned fashion to those under his command. "Tell General Matheson I shall be along shortly with the lieutenant's wand."

Without any further ceremony, Wickham was grabbed firmly by the arm and disappeared with Fitzwilliam's officers.

"I am terribly sorry for this whole ordeal," said Fitzwilliam to the group at large. "I should have liked to deal with this all in a quieter fashion, I assure you, but discoveries as to Lieutenant Wickham's habits made his immediate removal from the students of Hogwarts an absolute necessity."

"Bring him back," said Zebulon. "I'd like a chance to punch him, too."

Fitzwilliam laughed. "I do not doubt it." He turned his attention to Elizabeth. "You have his wand, do you not?"

Elizabeth held out Wickham's wand without complaint.

"That was some fancy wandwork on your part, I must say," said Fitzwilliam as he pocketed the offered artefact. "You're not, perchance, a Metamorphmagus, are you?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I am afraid, Major Fitzwilliam, that I am simply myself and do not possess the capabilities of turning into a man at will. You shall have to make do with trying to convince Albert and Zebulon to join your ranks."

"Well, I suppose being a woman fits you admirably," said Fitzwilliam with an exaggerated sigh. He looked around the group at large. "Darcy, is that you?" he asked, as though he had not noticed him before.

Darcy barely refrained from rolling his eyes as his cousin strode toward him to shake his hand. "Some notice of your impending arrival would have been appreciated," he said pointedly.

"You know how I like to keep you on your toes, dear cousin of mine!" said Fitzwilliam gaily. A glint in his eyes told Darcy there was more to the story that would be told later. "Now, where is my new little brother? I should so dearly love to see how he fares at Hogwarts." He turned and clapped Bingley on the back. "Good to see you, Bingley!"

"Richard," Bingley greeted.

"Is this the brother, then?" Albert asked, arms crossed as he moved to stand next to Zebulon.

"No, my older brother recently married Adelia Malfoy," said Fitzwilliam.

Darcy noticed Elizabeth glancing between himself and Fitzwilliam at this knowledge and felt somewhat relieved as understanding settled on her features. Now that she knew of his unfortunate relation to Malfoy that he could not help, perhaps she would be better able to understand why he had not yet made advances to her.

"You, related to Malfoy?" Zebulon scoffed. "I feel sorry for you, mate."

Fitzwilliam smiled at Zebulon. "I should like to get to know you better, I think. Do consider making yourself available for lunch next week."

"My future's spoken for," said Zebulon, raising his hands as if to clear them of the business. "You might have some luck with Bentham here, though."

"Is that so?" Fitzwilliam asked, quirking an eyebrow at Albert. "Well, I shall consider the pair of you an excellent challenge and hope to see you Saturday next. Unfortunately, I must be off now. It was certainly a pleasure to meet all of you. Especially you, Miss -?"

Elizabeth smiled as Fitzwilliam extended his hand to her. "Elizabeth Bennet, Major Fitzwilliam. It was a pleasure to meet you, also."

Fitzwilliam, ever so suave, kissed Elizabeth's hand, then made his general goodbyes before requesting a moment alone with Darcy.

"You seem miffed, Darcy," said Fitzwilliam with an annoying gleam in his eyes.

Darcy, unconsciously, looked over his shoulder at Elizabeth's retreating figure.

"I thought that might be it," said Fitzwilliam gleefully. "Go after her, man! She is clearly a woman of sense, and not at all displeasing to look at! She'll certainly keep you on your toes, if her dueling is anything to go by."

"She is also the daughter of a Squib and a Muggle," said Darcy, turning back to face his cousin. "Not to mention her family's estate is entailed away and she has several relatives involved in trade."

Fitzwilliam became serious in an instant. "And those are your only problems?"

"We both know how she would be treated by Aunt Catherine and, regrettably, your own parents," said Darcy lowly. Now that he had finally begun unburdening himself to someone, he felt immense relief and a desperation for help to sort his thoughts out.

"Aunt Catherine shall think poorly of anyone that is not Anne," said Fitzwilliam unconcernedly. "As for my parents, give me the week to confirm a suspicion of mine. I shall not tell them of your interest in the lady, or any lady in particular, rest assured. If I am correct, however, and I often am, I think you will be pleased with what I can tell you."

Darcy tried to quash the hope he felt rising in his chest. He did not want to think of what pain it would cause him to allow himself the belief that he would have the support of his Aunt and Uncle Matlock in pursuit of Elizabeth, only to discover it was a lie. "When is Wickham to be sent off?" he asked to reset his mind.

"You heard that Bentham fellow," said Fitzwilliam. "Matheson is to leave next month. Wickham will be under constant supervision until then."

Darcy frowned. Wickham would still be on English soil when Hogwarts let out for the holidays. Now that Elizabeth had humiliated him in a duel, Darcy feared he would seek retaliation.

"I've requested, and been granted, daily updates on Wickham's whereabouts and actions," said Fitzwilliam. "If he's to try anything, I should have enough advanced notice to stop it."

"See to it that he's not given even an inch," said Darcy.

"But of course," said Fitzwilliam.

The cousins shook hands, and Fitzwilliam disapparated.

* * *

**Author's Note**

So... what do you think of the encounter with Wickham? What did you think of Fitzwilliam?


	12. Chapter 12

"What fun we shall have, Adella!" Lydia declared to her friend as she settled into Piper's carriage.

Lizzy listened to Lydia chatter with Adella contentedly. She was headed home for the holidays with a decidedly large party. Stuffed into the carriage was herself, Phoebe, Josephine, Lydia, Adella, Kitty and her friend Hattie, Mary, Calliope Lovegood, and Jane. Despite Bingley's insistence that Jane invite a particular friend of hers, she had eventually decided she could not single out any one friend and declared she should be satisfied with those of her sisters.

Upon Jane's declaration, Lizzy's quick mind set to work. It was decided that Jane should claim Josephine as her guest to avoid their mother's ire at Lizzy bringing two guests while Jane brought none. Such would also avoid chatter and complaints that it was somehow Lizzy that had won Bingley's favor.

"Shall we fit in as Muggles?" Josephine asked worriedly.

"You'll be fine," Lizzy assured. "And what's more, you will be forever cured of your desire to live as one ever again."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating, Lizzy," Josephine chided.

"Unfortunately, Jo, she is not," said Jane. Ever since her conversation where she had shared her fear of losing Lizzy or another sister to her pardon of a person's flaws, Jane had become increasingly forthright and demanding. She was still very sweet and approachable, but no one could mistake her for an easy target, now. She called the attention of everyone in the carriage and proceeded to lecture them on what would be expected of them in Muggle society.

"Being called 'Miss Weasley' all the time," Phoebe said disgustedly. "I'll feel as though I'm in class, I'm sure. Can I really not ask people to call me by my given name?"

"You cannot," said Jane firmly.

"You may give the privilege to a select lady or two," said Lizzy, "but to allow everyone such a 'liberty' will make you seem crass."

"Merlin's beard, I'm exhausted already," said Phoebe. "I truly thought you had been exaggerating all this time. Perhaps I'll stay home with the younger girls, rather than venture to the ball."

Lizzy laughed. "Perhaps that might have been an option, had you not promised Professor Burbage a lengthy essay."

"That was all Jo's fault!" Phoebe argued.

The rest of the carriage ride was spent engaged in random squabbles and conversations. A few attempted napping at random points, but only Calliope was able to tune out the rest of the noise well enough to succeed.

It was a rather irritable and exhausted group of young women that finally arrived at Longbourn.

"Oh, my darling girls!" Mrs. Bennet shrieked as her daughters and their friends came through the door. "Lydia, how you've grown!"

"Hello, Mama!" Lydia greeted. She smiled widely and bounced on her feet, but was not behaving so ridiculously as Lizzy feared she might upon being reunited with her mother. The sight was encouraging.

Mrs. Bennet seemed momentarily displeased that Lydia did not immediately begin spewing gossip, but cleared the expression quickly to welcome her guests to her home.

"So these are the extra females that shall make my finding a moment's peace impossible in these next weeks," Mr. Bennet said drily, finally coming out of his library.

"Papa, these are our good friends from school," said Jane, and she proceeded to introduce each of them.

"Once you've settled your friends," said Mr. Bennet, addressing his daughters, "I should like to see the lot of you in my study."

Lizzy looked at her father quizzically, but he gave nothing away, aside requesting the presence of his wife, also.

Adella was to stay with Lydia, Hattie with Kitty, and Calliope with Mary. Phoebe and Josephine would share Lizzy's room, while Lizzy moved over to Jane's. Jane had requested she share with Lizzy, claiming sisterly affection. Lizzy did not doubt as much, but also felt fairly confident the next nights would number among the last she would ever share a room with her sister.

After settling their friends, the Bennet girls made their way, as a group, down to their father's study.

"Heaven's sake, girls, how you try my nerves by moving so slowly!" Mrs. Bennet cried.

Lizzy looked to Mary, who was already wincing and noticeably miserable. She gave her sister a concerned look, who only gazed toward the ceiling and took the furthest seat form her mother possible as a response.

"We are to receive one more guest for the holidays on the morrow," Mr. Bennet announced.

Shocked though she was by the news, Lizzy had the good sense not to turn back to Mary and demand details faster than she knew her father would provide verbally.

"Oh, the Gardiners are to come!" Mrs. Bennet gushed. "How cruel of you to keep a thing like my brother's family visiting from me, Mr. Bennet!"

"It is not the Gardiners," Mr. Bennet declared. He proceeded to drag out the explanation of the impending guest by refusing to provide information unless asked directly for it by one of his family members. After far too long a time, the entire story was uncovered.

Mr. Collins, Mr. Bennet's cousin and heir, would be coming to Longbourn to 'heal the breach' that existed between the two families. Mr. Bennet delighted in imparting the knowledge that he had known for weeks but chosen to keep it secret.

The entire family elected to ignore Mrs. Bennet bemoaning her future in the hedgerows and exclaiming over the audacity of Mr. Collins's daring to ask admittance to her house as they discussed further details. Finally, the girls were released back to their friends. Rather than return to their rooms, however, the lot of the Bennet daughters went into the parlor while their mother continued to berate their father.

"Does he mean to marry one of you?" Kitty asked the moment the door was closed. "Is that what Papa meant by 'healing the breach' between our families?"

Lizzy could not help the sense of pride that filled her at Kitty's quick and accurate thinking.

"It is likely, Kitty," Jane answered.

"You can't marry a Muggle!" Lydia burst.

"Rest assured, Lydia, none of us have any such intention," Mary soothed.

"Do tell us Papa's thoughts, Mary!" Kitty begged.

Mary stoutly refused all efforts to get her to divulge the inner workings of their father's mind.

"Mama shall be most displeased," Jane said warily to her sisters.

"Of course she shall be displeased," Lizzy snapped. "When is she otherwise?"

"Lizzy," Jane cautioned. Though she no longer ignored the faults of others, she did not allow such faults to be on the receiving end of ridicule.

"Well, Lizzy, you had best brace yourself," said Lydia. "We all know Mama shall warn Collins off Jane. You'll be next in line – and the only other option, really. Mary's still too young to ask."

"And I shall decline him most decidedly," said Lizzy. "Let us all agree to treat Collins with the respect demanded of a guest, shall we?"

The sisters decided on a plan of action, then adjourned their meeting and joined their friends above stairs. The party only remained indoors a short while longer before all members decided to go for a walk.

"Shall we go see Netherfield, do you think?" Phoebe asked with a suggestive twitch of her eyebrows.

* * *

"Is this really necessary?" Phoebe asked.

Lizzy laughed at her friend, who had been complaining the entire time she and Jane were helping Phoebe and Josephine prepare for the day. "Come now, Phoebe, I thought you said living as a Muggle for a few weeks would be quite the fun adventure."

"I didn't think you'd make me deal with _stays_," said Phoebe.

"Well, you've got to dress the part," said Lizzy unapologetically.

"Can't I just wear my magical underclothes?" Phoebe asked. "No one shall know a thing."

Lizzy only threw a gown at Phoebe as a response.

"You'll get used to them soon enough, Phoebe," said Jane as she twirled Josephine's hair into an acceptable style at the vanity. "Lizzy, be a dear and pick up those pins I dropped."

"Shall we see Bingley today, Jane?" Lizzy asked mischievously.

"He ought to have arrived at Netherfield last night, so yes," said Jane. "Do be careful of your tongue, Lizzy. Remember what we all agreed to."

Lizzy soothed her sister's concerns and returned to doing battle with Phoebe over getting dressed. A few days prior to leaving for the holidays, Jane, Lizzy, Mary, Bingley, and even Mr. Darcy had all sat together in the library and come up with an action plan. They all agreed their going to school together should be kept a secret and to pretend as though they had not seen each other in months. Bingley and Darcy would pretend not to know the Bennet sisters' friends at all. When concerns over Caroline were raised, Bingley gave his firm assurances she would play along.

"There, now you are ready," Jane proclaimed after a rather long period of time.

"This is rather a flattering color," said Josephine, examining her skirts.

"Be careful not to raise them too high, Jo, lest your ankle be seen," said Lizzy in mock sternness.

"I think I should be quite amused if Meryton were to find out about your Quidditch robes, Lizzy," Josephine teased in return.

"Off with the lot of you," said Jane.

"You're not coming?" Phoebe asked.

"No," said Jane, exchanging a look with Lizzy. The pair had agreed that, whenever possible, one of them should be at home to keep an eye on the younger witches and ease Mary's aching head in any way they could. "I shall see Charlotte soon enough. Be on your way!"

Lizzy led her friends down the familiar path to Lucas Lodge, happily breathing in the familiar scents. "I do enjoy the woods surrounding Longbourn," she said.

"Does anything of interest live here?" Phoebe asked, examining the bare treetops.

"An occasional fox is the most exciting creature," Lizzy answered.

Phoebe stumbled in shock. "There are truly no magical creatures here? Not even gnomes?"

Lizzy shook her head. "Mine is the only magical family for miles, or was, until the Bingleys came. We are not enough to attract magical beasts."

"Perhaps I should recommend Hertfordshire to my father," said Phoebe thoughtfully. "He's always complaining about the gnomes in our yard."

Lizzy spotted a very familiar figure ahead and gleefully called out, "Charlotte!" before running toward her friend.

"Lizzy! I am so _very_ happy you've returned!" Charlotte exclaimed as she hugged her friend. "School suits you," she said. "You look very well, indeed."

"As do you, Charlotte," said Lizzy fondly. "Come, meet some of my classmates that are joining me for the holidays." Lizzy beckoned to Phoebe and Josephine, who readily came forward and happily greeted the first Muggle they had interacted with without the intense supervision of their parents.

Lizzy could not have been more pleased with how well her closest Muggle and magical friends got along. When the girls finally parted ways, Josephine declared she would find a way to start a correspondence with Charlotte before leaving.

"How strange," Lizzy observed as she and her friends approached the house. "Lydia detests going outside in the cold."

Lydia, Adella, Kitty, and Hattie were all huddled close together outside, shuffling about the garden.

"Perhaps it was Kitty's idea," Josephine ventured.

Lizzy hastened her pace until she met her sisters and their friends. "Who are you and what have you done with my little sisters that are positively hateful when it comes to cold weather?"

"Mama is beside herself," Kitty supplied.

"She's all in uproar, getting the house ready for Mr. Collins," Lydia added.

Lizzy sighed in spite of the fact that she was pleased Lydia had not reattached herself to her mother, and Kitty had not reattached herself to Lydia. "Well, I shall go help Jane and Mary deal with it."

"No, Lizzy!" Lydia cried, grabbing her sister's arm. "Mama is already upset that you've been gone so long!"

"We only went to see Charlotte," Lizzy countered with amusement in her voice.

"It's not only the house she wants to see ready for our guest, Lizzy," said Kitty pointedly.

Lizzy rolled her eyes, took a fortifying breath, and entered the house with Phoebe and Josephine.

"Elizabeth Bennet, where have you been?" Mrs. Bennet cried as soon as Lizzy walked through the door. She more politely greeted Phoebe and Josephine before returning to Lizzy. "Mr. Collins is due to arrive in just two hours, and you saw fit to expose your face to all that cold outside?" Mrs. Bennet, it would seem, had finally recognized what her daughters had the day before – that Mr. Collins was a _bachelor_ coming to stay at Longbourn, the estate he would inherit.

"The condition of my face can mean nothing to Mr. Collins, Mama," said Lizzy as she divested herself of her outer clothes. "I am here now and will happily be of assistance once I have seen Josephine and Phoebe resettled."

"Take Jane with you," Mrs. Bennet called after Lizzy when the girl started to wander away, "and have her redo your hair. It's been treated abominably by the wind!"

"My, is she determined to show you in the best light," Phoebe said under her breath.

Lizzy sighed as her mother went off, screeching for Jane to attend her. "Mama is a Muggle," she said sadly. "For a Muggle woman, her future can only be secure if she is married. Once she is married, she must next turn her attentions to whatever daughters she might have, lest she and they are left to fend for themselves if her husband predeceases her."

"What a grim existence," Phoebe commented, staring after Mrs. Bennet. "Doesn't she know you can provide for yourself well enough?"

"Jane and I decided long ago that we would remind her of our powers as little as possible and tell her even less about the magical world. Mama would have difficulty wrapping her mind around it and would see only that which might secure her future, anyway," Lizzy answered.

Jane came out of the parlor and joined the group gathered at the bottom of the stairs. Grabbing Lizzy's hand, she said, "Come along, Lizzy. Let us not fight more than we must."

* * *

Mr. Collins arrived exactly when he said he would and quickly proved to be every bit as ridiculous as Lizzy had begun to expect from what her father had told her.

"I understood you had only five daughters, sir," Mr. Collins said, observing all the women about him.

"Correct you are," said Mr. Bennet, raising his eyebrows at Mr. Collins. "Only five are mine. The rest are friends from school, come to spend the holidays with us."

"What Christian charity!" Mr. Collins exclaimed. "How kind of you to extend such an invitation, Mr. Bennet! How kind indeed."

Lizzy had to studiously avoid making eye contact with any other witch in the room, lest she burst into laughter. Amongst other things, Lizzy was highly amused that Mr. Collins was fool enough to think that Phoebe, with her bright red hair, could possibly be a member of the largely dark-haired Bennet clan. It was also remarkably clumsy of Mr. Collins to assume the Bennets to be more fortunate than the girls that were their guests. If only he knew the distinction and wealth that was present, he would certainly declare the Bennets to be the ones receiving charity.

Later that evening, curled up in bed with Jane, Lizzy hid her face in a pillow while she released the laughter she had been holding back all day. "Oh, Jane, he is, without a doubt, _the_ most ridiculous man we have ever met!"

"He is, perhaps, more simple-minded than we are used to, Lizzy, but I don't see the need to mock him," Jane chastised.

Lizzy apologized and promised to do her best not to make sport of Mr. Collins, even if he would be unaware of it.

When the next morning came, Lizzy lost all traces of amusement with regards to Mr. Collins as he made his purpose in visiting so clear it would take an absolute simpleton to miss it. He sat near her always. He constantly tried to engage her in conversation. He praised all that she did.

Once lunch had passed, Lizzy could take it no more, and declared she should like to walk to Meryton and asked if any of her sisters and their friends if they should like to join her. All the witches, even Mary, agreed to the scheme. Lizzy was quite satisfied with herself, certain Mr. Collins would not wish to take such a long walk in the cold, and rose from her seat to begin preparations for the excursion.

"Mr. Collins, perhaps you would like some exercise, yourself," Mrs. Bennet suggested.

Lizzy felt her shoulders tense to the point of causing pain as Mr. Collins declared he was very fond of exercise and should be only too glad to join his fair cousins.

"How much longer must I tolerate this before I can say no and be done with it all?" Lizzy asked Mary lowly as they put on their things to go outside.

"I hardly think you need _me_ to tell you it won't be long," Mary answered just as quietly.

"Can you truly read him so well already?"

Mary gave her sister a sideways look. "Some minds are simpler than others to understand." She was distracted from saying anything further by the need to rush forward to prevent Calliope from trying to put a hand wrap over her head.

Lizzy headed the excursion to Meryton, setting a quick pace she hoped would exhaust Mr. Collins before long, forcing him to fall back and leaving her to enjoy the walk with her friends. Unfortunately, Collins stubbornly stuck by her side despite his breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps.

* * *

"Be quick, man!" Bingley snapped as Darcy gathered his things for riding.

"Miss Bennet shall still be there if I take a moment longer," Darcy irritably replied. Bingley had been in a fine mood all morning. The man had been determined to go see Jane yesterday, but the combination of Mrs. Hurst's news and a fit from Caroline had prevented him from doing so. He was most eager to be gone.

"I told her I would go to her yesterday," said Bingley shortly, beginning to pace tight circles. "What will she think of me, going back on my promise in such a manner?"

"Given the circumstances, I think she will be understanding of your delay," said Darcy. He finally slid his gloves on and declared himself ready. They went outside, got onto their horses, and started their journey.

"I should like to get a breeding pair of thestrals before long, I think," said Bingley. Now that they were on their way, his mood had improved drastically. "Thestrals are remarkably convenient creatures to have, are they not?"

"I certainly do not take mine for granted," said Darcy in reply. He liked horses well enough, but much preferred riding his thestrals. Among other things, they were less temperamental than the beast of burden currently beneath him.

"I wonder if Jane is able to see thestrals," Bingley wondered aloud. "I certainly hope not. I should hate for her to have seen life leave a person."

Darcy chose not to reply. Seeing death was not a topic he was particularly comfortable discussing at any length.

"Oh, look!" Bingley laughed, pointing ahead to a large group of women. "I think I see a few familiar faces!"

Darcy recognized Elizabeth's figure immediately and sat a little taller in his saddle.

"Miss Bennets!" Bingley cried upon coming within an acceptable distance of the group and dismounting. "I can't tell you how pleased I am to see you!"

Darcy looked the group over quickly from his saddle, taking stock of all present, before dismounting. He stared down at the officious looking little man standing beside his Elizabeth and felt his lip twitch in a snarl.

Jane returned Bingley's greeting and politely introduced all the familiar faces as though they were unknown before finally coming to the one that interested Darcy. "May I also introduce you to our cousin, Mr. Collins," Jane said, gesturing to the short man beside Elizabeth. "Mr. Collins, this is Mr. Bingley of Netherfield and Mr. Darcy of – "

"Pemberley!" Mr. Collins burst. "Mr. Darcy, what an honor to meet you!"

Darcy froze in surprise as Mr. Collins abandoned Elizabeth's side to approach him. His brows drew together as the strange man continued to speak.

"I have the privilege of having your aunt, the Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as my noble patroness," Mr. Collins oozed. "It is my great pleasure to inform you that her ladyship and Miss de Bourgh were in the best of health a mere three days ago when I saw them last."

"I am glad to hear it," was all Mr. Darcy could think to reply with.

"We were just on our way to Meryton," said Jane, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had begun.

"Well, let us see you there!" said Bingley, offering Jane his arm. "We were, after all, on our way to visit you."

Darcy hoped to find an excuse to offer to escort Elizabeth, but Mr. Collins moved before he could. Instead, he offered an arm to Phoebe and Josephine each while his horse trailed behind. The creature was perfectly content to follow its master while having the freedom to pull at random leaves that looked particularly appealing.

"Isn't it so delightfully funny to see Lizzy in such a situation?" Phoebe asked with barely stifled laughter.

Darcy did not find it funny at all and clenched his jaw to keep himself from saying as much.

"I admire her dedication to playing the part of a Muggle," said Josephine. "Were we at Hogwarts, I'm quite certain Mr. Collins would have found himself at the receiving end of a marvelous tongue thrashing, and likely a jinx or two."

Darcy, his gaze directed firmly forward, missed the fact that Phoebe and Josephine observed his face for a few moments before exchanging loaded looks.

"Mrs. Bennet seems remarkably fond of him, though, does she not?" said Phoebe.

"Oh, excessively so," Josephine agreed. "I imagine any Muggle woman would be fond of the man she sees as providing for her in the future though, don't you, Darcy?"

"What?" Darcy asked more harshly than he intended.

"Lydia let slip this morning that Mr. Collins came to Longbourn with the intention of finding himself a wife," Josephine explained, then looked pointedly at Mr. Collins talking Elizabeth's ear off up ahead.

Darcy swallowed with difficulty. Elizabeth would not enter an arrangement with _that_ simpleton, would she? Was he willing to take that chance? How long did he have before Collins declared himself? How long had Elizabeth known the man? _That_ at least, was a question he could ask without arousing too much suspicion. "Is Mr. Collins a regular visitor of Longbourn?"

"No, I believe the family met him for the first time yesterday," Phoebe supplied.

Darcy glared at the back of the man's head. Mr. Collins would certainly not beat him to Elizabeth.

The whole party enjoyed a leisurely couple of hours in Meryton before returning to Longbourn where, blessedly, Mr. Collins declared he would take some time to freshen himself and went above stairs.

"Mr. Bingley!" Mrs. Bennet cried. "How very glad we are to see you! Do sit down! I should hope you are willing to stay for dinner."

"I would not like to impose, Mrs. Bennet," said Bingley with some anxiety, looking at the large number of people cramming into the parlor. "I should hate to be a burden."

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Bennet countered. "I insist."

Before long, Lydia and Kitty left with their friends. Mary took Callliope away shortly thereafter, saying she should like to practice the piano. With so many people removed, Darcy finally felt able to breathe somewhat, and seated himself beside Elizabeth.

"Your mother appears to be in good spirits," Darcy ventured. He cursed his inability to find a suitable topic of conversation. Elizabeth would surely not wish to speak of her ridiculous mother.

"Mama is always full of energy," Elizabeth said diplomatically. "Are you to see your cousin over break?"

Darcy felt his stomach knot slightly. Since Fitzwilliam had taken over trying to recruit students from Hogwarts, he had become immediately well liked by all and a seemingly favored conversation partner of Elizabeth, when she was able to snatch a moment with him. Darcy did not like her attentions to his cousin in the slightest.

"I shall see Fitzwilliam in London after Christmas," Darcy answered.

"You are not spending the holiday with your family?" Elizabeth asked confusedly.

Darcy calculated his response. Georgiana had finally settled into the rhythm of life with the Matlocks, and the entire family, Darcy included, was concerned that his entering the mix would upset her equilibrium. "I made promises to Bingley that I intend to keep," he settled on for an answer.

"You have a sister, do you not?" Elizabeth asked. "Would she not like to spend the holiday with her brother? Why do you not send for her?"

"It is better for Georgiana to remain where she is, currently," said Darcy, trying not to become defensive. "How long are your friends to stay?" he asked, nodding toward Phoebe and Josephine, who were examining a cross stitching pattern left out on a table.

Elizabeth smiled fondly at her friends. "They shall stay as long as they can tolerate it, I think," she answered, "though we had originally planned on two weeks. I imagine Phoebe will want to return home as soon as Bingley's ball is over."

"We had thought you might come to see us yesterday," Mrs. Bennet said loudly to Mr. Bingley, redirecting Darcy's attention.

"I had planned on it," said Bingley. A wide grin threatened to split is face. "Instead, I was much occupied by the happy news that I am to be an uncle in a few months!"

"Oh, I knew it must be so!" Mrs. Bennet gushed. "Mrs. Hurst has seemed so very sickly these last few weeks, the poor dear. I was certain she must be in the family way. I'm very aware of such things, you know," she said as sagely as she was able. "I had Cook share some recipes with Netherfield's kitchen that, in my experience, help settle an upset stomach wonderfully. Has Mrs. Hurst been enjoying the food, do you know?"

Darcy found himself so surprised by Mrs. Bennet's astute observations and her taking the initiative to care for Mrs. Hurst that he missed Bingley's reply.

"How wonderful for the Hursts," said Elizabeth warmly. "They must be very pleased."

"Indeed!" Mr. Bingley agreed. "Upon my statement that I should spoil the child absolutely rotten, they declared they were determined to remove from Netherfield before I could have the opportunity. I am quite prepared to do battle with them on the subject."

Elizabeth laughed lightly. "I should do the same, were I in your situation."

Darcy found himself wondering if Elizabeth's sisters would spoil her children.

"Was Caro – Miss Bingley pleased as well?" Josephine asked, catching her faux paus so quickly Mrs. Bennet failed to notice.

Bingley's smile took on a decidedly fixed air. "She was as surprised by the news as I was," he said.

Darcy supposed that was the politest way Bingley could have phrased Caroline's reaction. Upon hearing the news that she was to be an aunt, Caroline screamed that she would not live under the same roof of a crying, attention seeking brat. Darcy thought that description hilarious, considering its source. Caroline had continued to say she had never liked Mr. Hurst and could not understand why her sister had agreed to marry him. Such a declaration had resulted in a marvelous row between the sisters, ending with Caroline storming off to her rooms and Mrs. Hurst collapsing in tears. It had taken all of Hurst's and Bingley's efforts to calm the woman down.

Wisely, Bingley did not attend Caroline immediately. Instead, he had invited Darcy into the room, joyfully shared the news as if the whole house had not heard Caroline screaming like a banshee, and the group had celebrated appropriately. Mrs. Hurst, greatly relieved that most members of the house were truly pleased for her, went to bed with a smile. It was then that Bingley allowed his pleasant expression fall to unmistakable anger and he stormed up to Caroline's room.

Caroline had stoutly refused to apologize to her sister and was completely unrepentant. She proceeded to list all the harm that Mrs. Hurst and Bingley had brought to their family's reputation: Mrs. Hurst, for marrying a completely average wizard, and Bingley for "fawning all over that upstart chit like a stupid puppy!" Only after this declaration did Bingley finally raise his voice to match his sister's. The pair had continued arguing. Caroline blamed her brother for the fact that Aquila Black had laughed at her when she invited her for the holidays, saying that a Black would _never_ associate with such lowborn people. Bingley retorted that he cared not one bit for what any of the Blacks thought, and that, if Caroline did not like it, she could leave to be with family in Scarborough on the morrow.

Darcy was unsure of Caroline's decision regarding the manner, as Bingley had not given her an opportunity to reply before exiting her rooms, slamming the door, and barricading himself in his own rooms. Caroline had been absent from breakfast, however, which was encouraging.

Mrs. Bennet seemed not to notice the tension that had fallen over the other occupants of the room and shared some anecdotes from her time of waiting for her daughters to be born.

"Poor Bingley," Elizabeth breathed once her mother was thoroughly occupied again.

"Yes, yesterday was rather a challenge for him," Darcy said, grasping desperately at anything he could to involve Elizabeth in conversation.

Elizabeth looked surprised, as though she had not meant to speak aloud.

Before Darcy had the pleasure of hearing Elizabeth's voice again, Mr. Collins entered the room and was happy to fill any silence that was in danger of occurring. Of more annoyance, however, was Collins's insistence that Darcy move to "a place of more distinction, as is only fitting a person of such status." Elizabeth had looked decidedly disgusted at this, and Darcy could not but agree.

Thankfully, Bingley distracted the entire room with an invitation to his ball. As Mrs. Bennet erupted into raptures, Mr. Collins was entirely forgotten, and he took a seat on the opposite side of the room from Elizabeth with a decidedly defeated expression.

Darcy had refrained from smiling with difficulty.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Writing Mr. Collins... what a trip.

I hope you'll share your opinion on this update in a review!


	13. Chapter 13

The days leading up to Bingley's ball passed agonizingly slow for Lizzy. Mr. Collins had not ceased in his pointed attentions, much to the delight of Josephine and Phoebe, who took every opportunity they could to tease their friend about it. Her mother, also, had taken to rising earlier than was her usual wont, preventing Lizzy from sneaking out of the house to take a walk to find some peace.

Knowing she would soon burst, Lizzy conspired with Josephine and Phoebe to leave two days after the ball. Phoebe would claim her family had sent her word that she was urgently needed and would request Lizzy accompany her as a source of comfort. Josephine would stay at Longbourn, perfectly content to pass the time with Jane and smooth over any necessary details that needed addressing once Lizzy and Phoebe made their escape.

Despite knowing she would be welcome at the Weasley residence, Lizzy deeply wished to be with family around the holidays, and so sent a letter in secret to her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner requesting sanctuary with them in London. Their generous offer of hospitality arrived the day of the ball, and Lizzy was able to prepare for the festivities in a tolerable mood, even though she would have to dance the first with Mr. Collins.

"Oh, no, Jane, give that green to Lizzy," said Lydia. She and Adella had spread themselves out on Jane's bed, watching and offering commentary as the older girls got ready. "You look much better in blues and pinks. You'll do better with those ribbons there, on the right."

"I think those teal ones would suit nicely," said Adella. It had taken her a few days to become comfortable in the Bennet house, and especially around Jane and Lizzy, who she seemed to find intimidating, but now she was finally able to offer suggestions and share her thoughts without looking fearful.

"Adella, you brilliant creature!" Lydia cried, leaping off the bed to grab the ribbons her friend had identified. "They are perfect! Come, Jane, turn around and let me tie them."

Lizzy smiled at her youngest sister in the mirror. Lydia had come so very far in such a short time. The girl was still loud and impulsive but was hardly any more ridiculous than any other girl of her age. She had not even asked once if she could attend the ball, but had said multiple times what fun she would have with Adella, Kitty, and Hattie while everyone else was away. She even offered to include Mary and Calliope.

Mary had been thrilled when the idea struck her to tell her mother that Calliope was not allowed out at all by her parents, and that, as Calliope was her guest, she would have to stay home from the ball also. Mrs. Bennet had not been at all pleased but had conceded so as not to seem like a rude host that could not be trusted with the care of someone else's daughter. Calliope had been happy enough to go with the scheme, saying she looked forward to the opportunity to explore Longbourn in more depth, without the hindrance of extra bodies being about.

Lizzy rather thought Calliope planned on using the evening to search for some little-heard-of creature that must live in the area, but found herself more amused than annoyed. Truth be told, she was grateful Calliope would not be at the ball. She liked the girl well enough, but was very aware of how uncomfortable Calliope could make people, and was even more aware of the fact that Calliope said whatever was on her mind and would likely expose them all for being witches, otherwise.

"Have you not started on your hair yet?" Kitty gasped upon entering the room and catching sight of Jane. "You cannot _possibly_ be allowed to be late for _this_ ball!" She looked around the room wildly before demanding Jane sit at the vanity, then pulled Hattie over. "Hattie is wonderful at hairstyles," she declared. "She does everyone's hair in our room at least once a week."

"Kitty, perhaps it would be better for you or Lizzy to – " Hattie started.

"I've seen your work, Hattie, and would be very pleased if you would do my hair," said Jane sweetly.

Hattie positively beamed and set to work directly.

Lydia and Kitty, aided by Adella and Hattie, continued in their attentions to their older sisters until finally declaring the pair ready.

"Oh, Jane!" Mrs. Bennet wailed upon entering the room. "You are positively beautiful this evening! I do not think I have ever seen your hair in such a fashion. It looks very well on you, indeed."

Lizzy allowed herself a light laugh as Kitty looked laudingly at Hattie.

"Lizzy, you look well, also," said Mrs. Bennet, finally turning to look at her second daughter. "You'll never be as pretty as Jane, but you look very well indeed!"

Lizzy chose to be amused by her mother's commentary, rather than offended. In fact, she almost wished her mother had insulted her more directly, or at least complained about something. Then she would know she did not look truly appealing. She had been dressing rather dully the past several days, hoping she might fade into the background and escape Mr. Collins's notice. Such a tactic had proved futile, but she was desperate enough to continue attempting it.

After several more outbursts from Mrs. Bennet, goodbyes were exchanged, the carriage was loaded, and the ball-goers were on their way. Between Mrs. Bennet and Mr. Collins, not one second of the ride to Netherfield passed in silence.

"Are you sure we ought to wait two days before leaving?" Phoebe asked lowly, discreetly wiping her hand on her skirts after being handed out of the carriage by Mr. Collins.

"I couldn't do that to Jane," Lizzy answered. Just the day previously, while Mrs. Bennet was out visiting Mrs. Philips, Mr. Bingley had come to the house and had a private conversation with Mr. Bennet. Upon seeing him approaching unaccompanied, Lizzy had quickly engineered a way to keep her younger sisters and their friends occupied enough they would not notice an interview taking place.

"Oh, fine," said Phoebe. "But just say the word, and I'll put on a very convincing performance."

"Cousin Elizabeth," said Mr. Collins, approaching with his arm extended.

Lizzy was forced to part from Phoebe to enter Netherfield on Mr. Collins's arm.

Upon making her way through the greeting line – which was made quite a tolerable thing by Caroline's absence – and entering the ballroom, Lizzy was eager to find an excuse to part from Mr. Collins, and brought her friends with her to a corner where they were soon joined by Charlotte, who was very pleased to speak again with Phoebe and Josephine.

"Do you truly think he will make you an offer, Lizzy?" Charlotte asked her friend seriously after Phoebe and Josephine had gleefully related Lizzy's struggles of the past several days.

Lizzy chose commenting on Mrs. Goulding's dress instead of replying, but that was all the answer Charlotte needed.

Mr. Collins appeared and interrupted the blossoming conversation as soon as the strains of the first song began, claiming Lizzy for their dance.

"What do you think will become of Lizzy, Charlotte, when she refuses Mr. Collins?" Josephine asked after watching Elizabeth's foot be stepped on for the third time.

"I should hope she is not so headstrong as that," said Charlotte concernedly. "Mr. Collins seems a good sort of man, and he could provide Lizzy with a home of her own. Her childhood home, as a matter of fact, when the time comes."

Josephine and Phoebe exchanged wide-eyed glances at Charlotte's speech.

The evening proceeded as was expected. Mr. Collins danced with Jane and, much to Lizzy's delight, insisted on a set with Phoebe and Josephine as well. While Mr. Collins was occupied with trodding on Josephine's feet, Lizzy began moving about the room without ceasing. This was the first dance of the evening for which she did not have a partner, and she resolved to use that to her advantage by disappearing into the crowd, thus making it impossible for Mr. Collins to find her and ask for the supper set.

"Miss Elizabeth," said a deep voice when Elizabeth had paused in her weaving through people.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth greeted civilly.

"Would you do me the honor of dancing the next with me?" Mr. Darcy asked.

The wheels in Elizabeth's mind jammed and she could think of nothing to say other than, "Yes, thank you."

Mr. Darcy bowed and disappeared, leaving Elizabeth standing in the middle of a crowd with a very shocked expression on her face.

"Did he ask you?" asked Phoebe excitedly, seemingly coming from nowhere.

Lizzy flinched at her friend's sudden appearance. "I cannot think why," she answered after her heartbeat had calmed somewhat.

"Can't you?" Phoebe asked with a suggestive twitch of her eyebrow. "It's not just me and Jo that have noticed, you know. Charlotte's asked about it, too. She thinks you're quite the fool for stubbornly disliking Darcy."

"Phoebe, I do _not_ need this right now," Lizzy hissed.

"Give him a chance, Lizzy," Phoebe suggested. "You might be surprised."

Before the supper set could begin, Mr. Bennet called the attention of the room.

"Oh, how I shall lord it over everyone's head, the fact that I was present for the engagement announcement," Phoebe said lowly.

Lizzy harshly hushed her friend and made her way closer to her father to better hear him.

"It is my pleasure to announce to you, friends and neighbors, that Mr. Bingley has offered my daughter Jane his hand in marriage, and she has accepted him," Mr. Bennet said loudly. He was not overly effusive, but Lizzy knew her father well enough to tell he was pleased.

Despite the fact that she had known this was coming, Lizzy squealed with joy and rushed through the crowd to hug her sister. She knew such a display would cause Muggle tongues to waggle, but she could hardly bring herself to care. She was so deliriously happy for her sister. Not even Mr. Darcy coming forward to claim her for the next dance could dampen her mood.

* * *

Darcy was wholly unable and unwilling to remove his eyes from the radiant creature across him. To see Elizabeth so thrilled for her sister made him look forward to the day their own news would be announced. If her smile was so great for her sister, how much more so would it be for herself?

"You sister seems well pleased," Darcy said as the dance began.

"Yes, very much so," said Elizabeth, casting an adoring glance at Jane and Bingley, who were happily receiving well wishes.

"She and Bingley suit each other well."

"Yes," Elizabeth readily agreed. "Bingley will make her excessively happy. I could not wish for more."

"Are those wishes for your sister only, or do they apply to yourself?" Darcy asked. He was rather proud of himself for being so bold.

"Of course I should wish to be excessively happy," said Elizabeth. Darcy was disappointed he had not succeeded in disarming her. In fact, she seemed to be ignoring his hint entirely. "But seeing Jane in such a state is more than enough for me. Nothing could please me more than to see her so well settled."

"And so close to home, as well," said Darcy, setting himself up again.

"Yes, that will be nice over breaks, to be able to still see her every day," said Elizabeth, her smile widening just a little more.

"You would not wish to always be so close to Longbourn, I should think," Darcy ventured.

Finally, Elizabeth seemed somewhat thrown off. Her brows drew in contemplation, just as they did when confronted with a particularly challenging set of instructions for Potions. Darcy had come to adore the expression.

"I suppose a woman might find herself _too_ close to her family," Elizabeth said finally. She shook her head slightly and, with it, the look of confusion. "I doubt it shall bother Jane one bit. And even if it does, she will find a solution that satisfies everyone."

Darcy frowned. He had not wanted the conversation to turn back to Jane and Bingley. He attempted a few more times through the dance to get Elizabeth to piece his hints together, but he was unsuccessful. As he walked her into dinner, picking up a slightly limping Josephine on his other arm on the way, he decided he would take a much more direct approach, and he would do it tomorrow.

* * *

"Good morning, Lizzy!" Jane cried gleefully, throwing back the curtains of their room.

Lizzy groaned good naturedly. She and Jane had only finally fallen asleep a few hours prior. They had stayed up several hours later than usual talking with all the witches of the house, then only their sisters for a few more, and finally just the two of them. Lizzy was excessively tired, but could not find within herself the desire to be in a bad mood because of it. She smiled at her exuberant sister with her eyes closed, allowing herself to adjust to the light.

"Come now, get up," Jane demanded, pulling the covers off her sister.

Lizzy cried out in mock outrage and threw a pillow at Jane. The two dissolved into a hopeless fit of giggles that drew the attention of their sisters soon enough. Before long, all five of the Bennet girls were piled onto Jane's bed, simply enjoying the presence and happiness of each other.

Mrs. Bennet disturbed the joyous scene. Having been the first person to go to bed the night previous owed to her nerves tiring her out from all the excitement, she was also the first to rise and was already dressed for the day. "Jane, I am so very proud of you," she cooed. Her expression changed entirely upon her gaze latching onto Lizzy, who had Lydia lying across her belly. "Lizzy, child! What are you still doing abed! Get up!"

"Whatever for, Mama?" Lizzy asked. The movement of her speaking caused Lydia to burst into a new fit of giggles, which cascaded until all the girls were laughing again.

Mrs. Bennet strode into the room and pulled Lydia off Lizzy, then pried Lizzy out of bed. "Make yourself presentable, Lizzy, and get downstairs! Let us not waste this day!"

"You're in trouble, Lizzy," Mary sighed.

Lizzy huffed. She knew full well what was coming. The whole house did. The fact that it disturbed such an unrepeatable moment with her sisters only hardened her resolve to be excessively direct.

"Don't worry, Lizzy," said Kitty, popping up from the bed and beginning to undo the braid she had slept in. "We won't let you be left alone."

"Thank you for the offer, Kitty, but I think there will be less embarrassment in front of our friends if I simply face my fate," Lizzy said flatly. "Lydia, chose the most unflattering dress you can for me. Mary, you must do my hair, for no one can make it look as severe as you do."

Had it not been for the radiant joy of Jane's engagement, Lizzy might have spent each passing moment growing in anxiety and dread. Instead, she and her sisters made a great deal of jokes as they worked collectively to make Lizzy look as poorly as they possibly could. Once they had done what they believed to be their worst, they paraded Lizzy before Phoebe and Josephine, who declared they had never seen their friend look such a fright.

Already amusing herself by what her mother's reaction must be to her appearance, Lizzy made her way down to breakfast. She barely contained her laughter when Mrs. Bennet glared at her with tightly pursed lips. Unfortunately, Mr. Collins seemed not to notice that Lizzy's person looked decidedly worse than usual.

The rest of the girls made their way downstairs at various times and conversation proceeded well enough despite Mr. Collins attempting to insert himself wherever he could, Mrs. Bennet's terse replies whenever addressed, and Mr. Bennet's general amusement at all the ridiculousness before him.

Once everyone was mostly done eating, Mrs. Bennet told Lizzy that Mr. Collins wished for a word with her, then ushered everyone else out of the dining room.

Lizzy quite literally bit her tongue several times to keep from bursting out during Mr. Collin's monologue, in which he practically declared that he thought more of Lady Catherine's opinion than his own preference for Lizzy. When the silly man finally got around to actually asking Lizzy to be his wife, she was ready with her response immediately.

"Mr. Collins, as much time and thought as you put into those pretty words, I will have to decline your offer," Lizzy said, not unkindly.

Mr. Collins looked surprised for a handful of seconds before a smile came to rest on his face once more. "You cannot be serious," he stated. "You must be aware that another offer of marriage may well never be made to you. I can only conclude that you mean to increase my love by way of suspense."

Lizzy quickly bit her lip before she could begin laughing. "Indeed, sir, I am perfectly serious. Please do not concern yourself over my future. I assure you I shall make do well enough. I wish you all the luck in the world in finding whoever your bride might be, for it certainly shall not be me."

Lizzy rose from her seat and left Mr. Collins standing in the dining room, opening and closing his mouth like a fish. She was not surprised to find her irate mother upon opening the door, and, knowing what would happen well enough, simply made her way to her father's study.

Mrs. Bennet was quick to follow and slammed the door behind herself.

"What is the meaning of this?" Mr. Bennet asked lazily, turning a page in his book.

"Mr. Collins has proposed to Lizzy and she has refused him!" Mrs. Bennet burst. "You must make this ungrateful child change her mind, Mr. Bennet, or we shall be cast out with only the clothes on our backs when you die!"

Mr. Bennet slowly set his book down and carefully observed his wife, then his daughter. "Lizzy?" he asked.

"Mama is correct in her first statement, sir, but not the rest," said Lizzy evenly. "I certainly shall not change my mind on the matter."

"And you have considered the full ramifications of this?" Mr. Bennet asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I have, sir," Lizzy answered readily. "You know full well that my sisters and I have a great deal many more options for our futures than does the average woman. I shall not be starving in the streets, and I shall not let my mother be so, either."

"There you have it, Mrs. Bennet," said Mr. Bennet, leaning back in his chair and picking up his book once more. "The matter is done and over with, now."

Mrs. Bennet screeched at Lizzy for several minutes, demanding her daughter change her mind and return to Mr. Collins, begging him to excuse the previous conversation and graciously accepting the proposal.

When Lizzy could take no more insults from her mother, she simply turned and exited the library without a word. Mrs. Bennet followed her the entire time, continuing her tirade. Lizzy gave no outward signs of acknowledgement, merely put on her outerwear and went out the door.

"ELIZABETH BENNET!" Mrs. Bennet shrieked. "Don't you _dare _come back into this house unless it is with a changed mind!"

Lizzy continued at an even pace until she was confident she was out of sight of the house, then burst into a run. She felt tears prick her eyes along the way, but brushed them aside determinedly. She was well aware of the fact that she was not favored by her mother, and she had made peace with it long ago, but to hear so many horrible things said by such a pillar in her life in quick succession hurt a great deal.

Out of breath, but feeling decidedly more level-headed, Lizzy reached the peak of Oakham Mount. Without a care for the chilly weather, she cast off her outer layers. She even went so far as to pull off the ugly shoe roses Kitty had hastily applied earlier in the morning and tossing them off over the steep side of the hill. Next, she ripped the pins Mary had put into her hair out and shook her head to fully let her tresses loose. She dug a hole with her shoe, muddying it in the process, and buried the pins, laughing all the while. Wondering what else she could do, Lizzy took off her shoes entirely and wiggled her toes in the mixture of dirt and old snow.

Entirely content with her wild state, Lizzy laid her coat out, then sat upon it. She grabbed a fistful of snow and began to eat it as she leaned back against a log and observed the scenery around her. She could not even bring herself to be worried when she heard footsteps approaching. Whoever saw her in such a manner would certainly tell everyone they knew immediately, but Lizzy remained unconcerned. After all, her mother had said she was not welcome back in the house. What should she care for the opinions of the neighborhood?

"Miss Elizabeth?"

_That_ voice Elizabeth certainly had not expected. "Mr. Darcy!"

Mr. Darcy came fully into view, his brows knitted together in confusion. "Are you well? Have you suffered an injury?" he asked after observing her sprawled out on the ground.

"I am perfectly well, Mr. Darcy, thank you," said Elizabeth evenly. She decided to display enough decency to exert the effort to set herself in a seated position. "How fares our newly engaged friend this morning?"

"Bingley is incessant in his declarations of his felicity," said Mr. Darcy distractedly. "Are you sure you are alright?"

Elizabeth smiled serenely. "I am simply enjoying all that nature has to offer this morning, Mr. Darcy."

"With no coat, no shoes, and with a number of old, dead leaves mixed into your hair?"

"As you see," Elizabeth answered carelessly. She grabbed another fistful of snow.

Mr. Darcy lowered himself to a crouch to be able to see Elizabeth's face more closely. She did not shy away from his scrutiny, only raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Please allow me to escort you home, Miss Elizabeth," he said, rising and holding out his hand to help her up. "I fear you've fallen and hit your head."

Elizabeth released a bark of laughter. "My head is at more risk at Longbourn than it is out here, Mr. Darcy," she said. "Besides, I have been told not to return," she added.

Mr. Darcy froze, true concern now showing on his face.

Elizabeth only laughed all the more. "Fear not, Mr. Darcy. My mother is simply in uproar because I refused Mr. Collins not an hour ago."

"Collins proposed?" Mr. Darcy burst.

"I would hardly consider his speech a proper proposal," Elizabeth answered with a shrug. "He did ask me to marry him, but I rather think he was more asking on behalf of the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh than on behalf of his own wishes. He's rather a ridiculous fellow, don't you think?"

Mr. Darcy mutely sat himself on a nearby log and simply stared at Elizabeth.

"Should you like me to give you all the most delicious details, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth said teasingly. "I know how much you should hate for your personal life to be made fodder for gossips, but I am well used to mine being so. It's rather inescapable, when you grow up in such a small town. We all know each other's business. I'm sure that, even at this moment, the news of my great stupidity is flying from house to house!"

"I do not think your refusal at all stupid," said Mr. Darcy, his tongue finally unlocking.

"I see you and I agree on something, for once," said Elizabeth sagely. "Nonetheless, I shall be branded a fool that threw away an opportunity of security for her mother and her sisters.

"My greatest regret, and really my only, is this news overshadowing that of Jane's engagement," Elizabeth continued. She stopped for a full thirty seconds before suddenly releasing an acidic cackle. "Why am I burdening you with all this?" she asked. "Take yourself away, Mr. Darcy, for I know you are not interested in my ramblings."

"On the contrary," said Mr. Darcy. "I am exceedingly interested."

"Oh?" Elizabeth asked archly, her humor suddenly being replaced with her former ill mood. "What shall I inform you of, then? What can I possibly tell you to make you think even less of me…"

Mr. Darcy looked taken aback. "You believe I think lowly of you?"

"Come now, Mr. Darcy, it is no great secret," said Elizabeth. Her anger and her humor now mixed to put her in quite the strange state.

"It is a secret to me, I assure you," Mr. Darcy countered. "I have come to greatly admire – no, that is not adequate wording." He took a deep breath, made sure he had eye contact, and began again, "I have come to ardently _love_ and admire your mind and your beauty, and have sincere hopes of getting to know you very, very well – even to the point of joining your sister and my friend at the altar. I should be very pleased, Miss Elizabeth, if you would accept _my_ offer of marriage."

Elizabeth found herself taken aback only for a moment before launching into a verbal assault. "I shall call you a great liar, Mr. Darcy, and I shall tell you why.

"From the very beginning of our acquaintance – no, even _before_ – I have been aware of the fact that you consider me merely tolerable," Elizabeth began, her tone no longer containing any hint of amusement, only malice.

"You _heard_ that?" Mr. Darcy asked, his face quickly changing color.

"You did not make it difficult, I assure you," said Elizabeth snidely. She drew breath to continue, but was again interrupted.

"I hope you might allow me a sincere apology," Mr. Darcy said, hardly deviating from his usual even and detached tones, despite his pale face. "Those words were entirely false and said only in hopes of being left alone by Bingley. I was – I was not in an appropriate state of mind to be among society at the time."

Elizabeth laughed cruelly. "Again, I declare you a liar. I am well aware of the fact that I am no beauty, sir.

"As for an 'appropriate state of mind to be among society,' I believe you have no such state of the very beginning, your manners impressed me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of such disapprobation, on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike on my part."

"Arrogance!" Mr. Darcy cried, rising from his stump and beginning to pace like a caged animal. "Conceit! Selfish disdain of the feelings of others! These would be great failings, indeed."

"_Would_ be?" Elizabeth asked, shocked. "Are! You forever look down on the company around you, refusing to engage in anything beyond the barest civilities! I have not _once_ seen you even _remotely_ pleased to be around another person that did not attend Beauxbatons! You believe yourself above the company of those without the means to send their children abroad, or those that chose to keep them close to home. You may freely admit it, sir, as so many people are aware of it already.

"Were your general rude manners not enough, did you think the extra disdain you have showed to my family could_ possibly_ endear you to me?" Elizabeth ruthlessly continued. "You all but openly mock my mother. My youngest sisters you believe to be exceedingly silly, as your facial expressions around them make abundantly clear. You have, on multiple occasions, exposed Mary to the ridicule of her classmates by callously abandoning her in the middle of a conversation. As if those faults were not enough, you look positively ill any time you see Jane and Bingley together. It could not be clearer you disapprove of them and would like nothing more than to see Bingley abandon her for someone of a higher caliber!"

"Ill?" Mr. Darcy asked, having abruptly paused his pacing. He took a few steps toward Elizabeth, stopping just before he came to truly tower over her. "Ill, indeed! With jealousy!"

"Jealousy?" Elizabeth could not help but ask.

"Bingley is so fortunate as to be able to express his affection for whoever he should wish to, no matter her situation and status," Mr. Darcy spat. "I envy his ability to be open in his regard for your sister!"

"Her situation and status?" Elizabeth asked, her face beginning to turn an even deeper shade of red.

"Yes, and that of your entire family," said Mr. Darcy. "Your family's estate is entailed away, your father a Squib, your mother a Muggle. Each member of your family, save your elder sister, displays a frequent want of propriety and decorum. You have several relatives in trade. Yes, I am jealous of Bingley, and hardly think I could be faulted for failing to rejoice at having come to develop an attachment to a woman whose position in life is so decidedly below my own! By doing such, I have failed the expectations of many of my friends, my family, and, I hardly need add, my own better judgement!

"Perhaps," Mr. Darcy continued with a snarl, "I might have been met with a kinder response if I had flattered your vanity and pride, as do many others. But disguise of every sort is my abhorrence. My feelings will not be repressed, especially in any matter relating to a hopeful partner in life."

"Is such a declaration meant to impress me?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes cold enough to put the snow around her to shame. "If anything, it has spared me the concern I might have felt in speaking to you thusly, had you behaved in a more gentleman-like manner."

Darcy noticeably started at this, and Elizabeth pressed her advantage.

"If you do like, or even love, me as you claim, Mr. Darcy, you have certainly come to do so against your will. I am confident, however, that all the impediments that exist that made you fight such an attachment will aid you in overcoming it. Your aforementioned pride, conceit, and selfish disdain for people in general are traits that will work greatly in your favor in this matter, I'm sure."

"You have said quite enough, madam. I perfectly comprehend your feelings, and have now only to be ashamed of what my own have been. Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness," said Mr. Darcy emotionlessly.

Elizabeth thought such a statement required no reply, and so grabbed more snow before resettling on her coat as Mr. Darcy's footsteps faded away.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ah, the awaited confrontation. Did I do it justice?


	14. Chapter 14

"Are you sure you have to leave right this moment?" Bingley asked.

"I cannot delay," said Darcy, shoving his hands into his riding gloves.

"Come, man, at least let me see you off with some food!"

"I shall stop at an inn for my meal, thank you."

Bingley stepped firmly in Darcy's way as he made to go out the door. "Darcy, give me some credit. What happened while you were out walking?"

Darcy ground his teeth together for a few moments. "Are you really going to let my foul mood interfere with your first day as an officially engaged man?" he finally decided on saying.

"I should like to enjoy that day with my very good friend," Bingley countered.

Darcy, broken by Bingley's insistence, sighed heavily. "Very well, Bingley, I shall tell you. But not now. Let me go. I will tell you everything before we return to Hogwarts."

Bingley frowned for several moments as he thought, but eventually stepped aside.

Darcy leapt onto the back of his horse. He had considered taking a thestral but decided the extra mental effort of keeping a horse in line would be a good thing.

So that was what Elizabeth thought of him! How he could have ever believed her to be an intelligent woman with excellent capabilities of gaging another person, he did not know. She had certainly proven herself to be stubborn and unreasonable. Did she not recognize what he had been offering her? How could she not see the disparity in their situations and all that he would have to muddle through as a result of choosing her?

And yet, in spite of all she had said, Darcy could not remove the lovely image of her completely wild appearance from his conscience. He recognized the dress she had been wearing as an attempt to look unflattering, but even that did not do the job for him. She was still a vision.

His ride was quick and exhausting. He had stopped only once, to switch horses. He had not even taken the time to stretch his legs. He thought it quite possible he might have overtaken an express rider or two.

Darcy's thoughts bounced back and forth between rage and intense longing for the entirety of the ride, and so he was in quite a thunderous mood when he arrived on his doorstep in London. He greeted his housekeeper with civility, but not the warmth he usually did. Such assured the entire household knew he was in a foul mood, and so he was left alone.

The following day Darcy threw himself violently into his responsibilities, only abandoning his business briefly to approach the house of his aunt and uncle from the servant's entrance to clandestinely ask after his sister. His mood was only marginally improved when he received word from his aunt that she believed Georgiana would respond well if he were to come for tea.

* * *

"Phoebe, you absolute angel!" Lizzy exclaimed in relief upon approaching Longbourn and seeing her friend sitting on their trunks outside. Her trunk, she noticed, had several new scrapes and splotches of mud as though it had been carelessly thrown from the house while Phoebe's was pristine.

"I thought it was past time for me to make my exit," said Phoebe. "I went to my ball, after all. That's all I came for, truly. The whole reason I became friends with you in the first place. This is where we part ways, Elizabeth Bennet."

Lizzy threw her head back and laughed. She was well aware of the fact that her friend was trying to distract her from the fact that her possessions had been treated so cavalierly, and she was grateful. Mrs. Bennet, apparently, had anticipated her daughter's stubbornness and made good on her threat, thus sparing her daughter the chore of entering the house again to gather her belongings.

"You look a fright," Phoebe observed after Lizzy had quieted. "And you were gone for hours."

Lizzy shrugged. "I enjoyed my walk," was all she said.

The carriage emerged from around the side of the house and the sound of it brought Jane out the front door.

"Oh, Lizzy!"' Jane exclaimed and wrapped her arms around her sister. "I am so sorry for all this!"

"You had nothing to do with it, Jane," said Lizzy pleasantly enough. "Let's not let it ruin your first day as an engaged woman, shall we?"

"My day is not at all ruined," Jane assured.

Lizzy's face fell to confusion as the front door opened again and Mary and Calliope came out, hauling their trunks. "What is the meaning of this?"

"While you were away, Mr. Bingley invited me, Mary, and Calliope to stay with him and the Hursts at his house in London," said Jane. "He invited you also, of course, but I thought you would rather stay with the Gardiners."

Lizzy's confusion only increased, and she looked to Phoebe for answers.

"You'll get no help from me," said Phoebe, holding up her hands in surrender. "I do my best to stay out of other people's family drama."

Lizzy turned her gaze back to Jane.

"I _might_ have exchanged words with Mama," Jane admitted, a blush creeping onto her face.

"Mama fainted," Mary added.

Lizzy was truly alarmed now and looked all the more insistently at her older sister.

"I tried to calmly and sensibly tell Mama why you were right to refuse Mr. Collins, but she did not want to see reason," said Jane. "When she started complaining against you again, I declared myself to be on your side and that I imagined that meant I was not welcome in the house either, so I went to pack."

"Kitty and Lydia will be down with Hattie and Adella shortly," Mary supplied. "The Longbottoms have offered to host them. Jo is finishing packing Jane's things and will join us before long."

Lizzy's eyes filled with tears quickly, and they began to fall freely as she collapsed on the ground, the love and support of her sisters and the gratefulness for belonging to the magical world overwhelming her.

"Come now, Lizzy, we can't keep Piper waiting."

Lizzy looked up and hastily wiped her eyes at Jane's words to notice that it wasn't her father's carriage, but Piper's, waiting in the drive.

"Charles called him for us," Jane said in answer to Lizzy's unasked question.

Before long, all ten witches had arranged themselves and their luggage in Piper's carriage and were pulling away.

Lizzy looked back at the house and noticed her father standing in the window of his bookroom, watching. She waved to him, and he returned the gesture. As she turned forward in her seat, she wondered if and when she would next see him. More than that, she wondered why he did not fight to have his daughters remain at home.

"Oh, Lizzy, I am so sorry that all that happened to you," said Mrs. Gardiner soothingly, rubbing her exhausted niece's back late that evening. After a very, very long day, Lizzy had broken down and told her aunt every detail of it.

Upon arriving in London, Phoebe and Josephine had said their goodbyes and headed to an inn to await their families coming to get them. Mr. Longbottom was already waiting to collect all the younger girls. Jane, Mary, and Calliope would stay with Lizzy at the Gardiners for a few days until Bingley made his way to London to open his house to them. The girls had spent the bulk of the day entertaining their young cousins and, in general, pretending as though nothing were amiss.

"I shall make peace with it all," Lizzy said as her tears fell onto a pillow.

"I hope you will let me help you with that," said Mrs. Gardiner. Taking her niece's shrug for acceptance, she continued, "Where should we begin? With your mother?"

"Mama I can understand well enough," Lizzy said with a hint of malice. "I do not like it, but I can understand it."

"Mr. Collins, then?" Mrs. Gardiner tried again.

Lizzy scoffed. "I don't think I shall bother myself to think twice about him."

"Your father?"

Here, Lizzy paused. "He should have done differently," she said smally after a few moments.

"Yes, he should have," Mrs. Gardiner agreed.

Lizzy flipped onto her back so she could look at her aunt. "Why did he not interfere? Why did he let Mama carry on so? Why did he let us leave?"

Mrs. Gardiner's face was filled with much sympathy as she grabbed Lizzy's hand. "Why do you think, my dear? You know him best, after all."

Lizzy kept her one hand in her aunt's, then wrapped her other around her knees as she contemplated. After a significant period of time, she spoke, "Papa likes to be unbothered, have peace. I think he believes nothing he does really matters, so why should he exert himself? Any changes he makes to Longbourn will not benefit his family in the long run because of the entail. He feels he needn't bother with putting forth effort to secure the futures of his daughters because he knows they can provide for themselves well enough. He lets his wife do whatever she pleases because that is easier than arguing with her."

"There you have it, Lizzy," said Mrs. Gardiner. "He believes his actions inconsequential. When the lot of you started packing, he simply let it pass as yet another thing he did not have control over."

Lizzy sighed heavily. "I suppose I can understand such a mindset, but I cannot like it, nor can I agree with it."

"I am likeminded, Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner said evenly. "Do you feel more settled now?"

"I do," said Lizzy, offering her dear aunt a strained smile.

"Good," said Mrs. Gardiner firmly. "Then it is time we move onto what I believe to be the biggest hurdle going forward: Mr. Darcy."

Lizzy groaned and rolled her eyes. "I wish he would go back to France."

Mrs. Gardiner refused to be distracted from her point. "Much though you may not like it, Lizzy, you will have to deal with him again, and frequently, even after Hogwarts. He is close friends with your sister's fiancé."

"Do not remind me," Lizzy pouted.

"I am going to tell you something you truly will not like, Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner cautioned, "but I want you to consider it thoroughly."

Lizzy flattened her lips in displeasure, but nodded at her aunt to continue.

"You _and_ Mr. Darcy were correct in your observations of each other." As Lizzy made to object most ferociously, Mrs. Gardiner held up a hand to forestall her. "That you were correct, though perhaps a little more harsh than necessary, requires no further discussion. As for Mr. Darcy's point of view, perhaps my own story can help you understand."

Lizzy ripped her hand away from her aunt and crossed her arms firmly over her chest. "Because I respect you so, Aunt, I shall listen. I advise against high hopes for a change in my opinion, however."

Mrs. Gardiner smiled faintly at her petulant niece. Lizzy looked almost the same as she did when throwing a fit at the age of five. The girl's stubbornness had not changed, though many other things had.

"When I was at Hogwarts, I enjoyed it as much as you have, and for many of the same reasons," Mrs. Gardiner began. "The fact that I was a Muggle-born from a family of little standing meant almost nothing to the vast majority of my classmates, and I was judged on my friendliness and ability. Your uncle and I became close and determined to marry a mere week after finishing school. You can well imagine my family's shock, I am sure, when I told them I would be marrying a man they had never met, and at such a young age!"

Lizzy's stormy countenance broke long enough to smile as her aunt laughed fondly at her memories.

"Well, as you know, I went to the Ministry in the Department of Muggle Relations," Mrs. Gardiner continued. "I was good at my job, and I enjoyed it immensely. Before long, however, I began to realize I was not experiencing the same attitudes of my fellow Ministry workers as I had at Hogwarts. I received strange looks, had trouble engaging others in conversation, and always seemed to be brushed off whenever I tried to meet with someone outside my department. After a few months, even some of my friends from Hogwarts had begun to avoid me.

"I tried to hide my discomfort from your uncle, but eventually broke down and told him all about it after someone I had considered a dear friend publicly slighted me. He said he had been suffering from similar issues, though he was working Magical Law Enforcement," Mrs. Gardiner said, no longer smiling. "After a great deal of discussion, we came to the conclusion that Hogwarts, while thoroughly enjoyable and very much what the world ought to be like, was a false reality because it was, at the time, lacking those of the most proud and ancient bloodlines. When we entered the next phase of life, we were confronted with the fact that a preference for Pureblood would outweigh nearly all other merits, save wealth. Those, Lizzy, are very unfortunately the only things that most of society sees. A person's wealth and relations are seen as equivalent to their value."

"And this is why you choose to live largely in the Muggle world?" Lizzy asked quietly after several moments.

Mrs. Gardiner hummed as she thought through her answer. "Your uncle and I realized that, as we should never overcome what we were born or where our money might come from, we ought to live in a way that _we_ believed we could be proud of. As you know, your Uncle Gardiner has a remarkable mind for business, and I absolutely adore tending my children. Neither of us mourns leaving the Ministry. Our lives are simple, but we are pleased that we are making our own way in the world and that our children will, hopefully, not face quite as much opposition as we did, when their time comes."

Lizzy stared blankly ahead and gave no indications of formulating a response.

"You have a great many wonderful qualities, Lizzy, and because of that, your less-than-wonderful qualities are often swept under the rug, and so you are rarely forced to confront your insecurities," Mrs. Gardener said gently. She rose from her seat on the side of Lizzy's bed, kissed her niece's temple, and bid her goodnight before quietly closing the door.

Lizzy did not sleep a wink. Was her fate to be much the same as her aunt's? Would she leave Hogwarts only to do battle with a whole swarm of Malfoys, determined to equivalate her birth and her worth?

Much though she did not wish to do so, Lizzy was unable to help relating her aunt's story to her own trials with Mr. Darcy. He had attended school for several years with other children of ancient pureblood lines. They had little opportunity to associate with children of different pasts. It seemed almost reasonable, then, that the purebloods would think of themselves as a different level of beings. Almost.

Though it had rarely been brought up before the purebloods from Beauxbatons had come to Hogwarts, Lizzy was keenly aware of the fact that she lived between worlds, and that her status was lacking in both. Mr. Darcy throwing it into her face so harshly, she realized, stung a great deal. No matter how good her grades, no matter how accomplished she was at dueling, whether or not she managed to become an animagus, she would never find the respect she deserved once she left the safety of Hogwarts. She was, and always would be, the daughter of a Squib and a Muggle. By singling her out with marriage as his intention, Mr. Darcy was opening himself to the ridicule of his peers for his choice.

It was a withdrawn and pale Lizzy that sat down for breakfast in the morning.

"Are you alright, Lizzy?" Jane asked concernedly. "I hope you have not let Mama's rantings bother you."

Lizzy forced a smile to her face and assured her sister that their mother had not gotten into her head, that she was merely exhausted from the whirlwind of emotions she went through the day previously.

Jane, not knowing half of Lizzy's struggles, accepted the words at face value and chattered happily as she served her sister.

Lizzy's tiredness turned to anger when Mary entered the room, and she said not a word for the rest of breakfast. Immediately following, however, she pulled Mary aside.

"You knew," Lizzy hissed. "You knew all along that he would approach me, and you gave me _no_ warning?"

Mary calmly removed her arm from her sister's grasp and responded evenly, "Plenty of others tried to tell you what he thought of you, Lizzy, and you ignored them. Why should you have believed me?"

"Because you are my sister and a legilimans!" Lizzy raged at a whisper.

"You were determined to be blind and think horribly of him, Lizzy," said Mary unhurriedly. "You knowing my thoughts on the matter would have done nothing to change that."

Lizzy watched Mary walk away with her fists clenched tightly. She went up to her room, stuffed herself into her outdoor clothes, and then ensconced herself firmly in the garden, where she paced furiously.

After a significant period of time spent pummeling the ground beneath her, Lizzy was finally calmed down enough to be able to sit and think through what Mary had said, and she realized her sister was correct, once again. Several people had hinted at the fact, or stated outright, that Darcy had a special interest in her, and she had cast off their suppositions in favor of her own.

Lizzy made herself trudge through her memories of all her encounters with Mr. Darcy and was forced to admit she had twisted every fact she could to fit her theory that he was proud, arrogant, haughty, and rude. Looked at in a less biased fashion, she was able to see that, while he was not particularly adept at reading and giving social cues, he was respectable, intelligent, hardworking, and did care for those around him, even if he struggled to express it. Indeed, he had been remarkably concerned for her well-being upon finding her at Oakham Mount and had immediately thought of how me could be of assistance.

Another hour of contemplation passed before Lizzy resolved to try making amends when term started again. As her aunt had said, she would not be able to escape Mr. Darcy, so she might as well try making peace with him.

* * *

"Well?" Darcy asked irritably. Upon arriving in London, he had informed Fitzwilliam and asked his cousin to join him the following morning. The major had hardly stepped through Darcy's study door before Darcy related the entirety of his encounter with Elizabeth.

Fitzwilliam simply stared at his cousin, his legs crossed and his fingers connected at the tips.

"Say something, man!" Darcy demanded.

"Forgive me, oh patient one," said Fitzwilliam drily. "I am merely trying to formulate a response that will not provoke you to punch me in the face."

Darcy halted his furious pacing and stared at his cousin and confidante with wide eyes.

Fitzwilliam sighed and uncrossed his legs to lean forward on his elbows. "Frankly, the thing I would most like to say is 'I told you so.'"

"I beg your pardon?" Darcy asked through his teeth.

"I've been telling you for years, Darcy, that you are much too severe in public," said Fitzwilliam. "You lurk and you stare and you judge. You refuse to speak to those you don't know, and I don't know that I've ever seen you ask a young lady outside your party to dance. Your rude manners are largely tolerated simply because of your bloodline and your annual income."

Darcy felt his mind jar and his face became remarkably blank.

"I've heard Bingley say some similar things, in a much kinder fashion, of course," Fitzwilliam continued. "My own comments you brushed off as teasing. Being confronted with your faults by a woman you've come to admire so much, however, is something you simply can't ignore. I'm extremely grateful to her for having done it."

Darcy fell into the nearest seat, feeling lightheaded.

Fitzwilliam continued mercilessly. "How could you possibly have thought throwing her position in her face would have worked in your favor? If there was any justice in the world, she would be among the most respected witches of this century, from what I can tell. Good God, man, what an idiot you've made of yourself!" Fitzwilliam, gaining energy, rose from his seat and took up the pacing Darcy had abandoned. "Telling her everyone _flattered_ her. What an absolute fool! _And_ to accost her in such a fashion after the morning she'd had!"

Though Fitzwilliam's ranting continued, Darcy tuned it out in favor of his own thoughts. Elizabeth had, indeed, been completely justified in her speech. Having been given the opportunity to see his behavior through her eyes, Darcy found himself absolutely disgusted. He had looked down on her because of her family, thought himself above her. He had been surprised that she was at the top of her class because she was not from a magical family. He had been openly rude to various members of the Bennet clan. He had failed to exert himself to make new friends at Hogwarts, simply because he believed the lot of them to be of less quality than those that had the means and inclination to be sent to Beauxbatons.

As Darcy thought more and more about how horribly he had behaved toward Elizabeth and many of her family members and friends based on things completely out of their control, he began making connections with Georgiana that absolutely sickened him. He lived in constant fear of his little sister being spurned because of things that had happened to her. Things that were, by no means, her own fault.

"You're right, Richard," said Darcy quietly.

Fitzwilliam was so thrown by Darcy's almost inaudible confession that he nearly smacked his head on a shelf sticking out of the wall. "What was that?"

Darcy raised his eyes to meet his cousin's. "I have been an absolute ass. Please help me."

* * *

Bingley did not arrive in London until the day after Christmas. He called at the Gardiners as soon as he could after he arrived, however. Jane was very happy to see him. He stayed with the whole family long enough to share that he had spread the tale that the Bennet girls had left so abruptly due to receiving news that one of their well-liked and respected teachers at school had passed suddenly. All of Meryton now believed the Bennets to be attending the funeral of their beloved instructor and mourning with their fellow students. Lizzy applauded Bingley's quick thinking, and thanked him for concealing the unhappy truth, as well as saving her parents from any added embarrassment. It made the possibility of reconciliation much more likely.

Jane, Mary, and Calliope left the Gardiners' that evening to go stay at Bingley's townhouse with him and the Hursts. In order to avoid any unnecessary scandal, the story that Mrs. Hurst had invited Jane was circulated.

So it was that, the morning following her sisters' departure, a greatly subdued Lizzy took herself for a walk at an unfashionably early hour. She was completely unbothered by the lack of people about. It was a luxury that allowed her to excuse the fact she did not bring a footman or maid along with her. She could very well take care of herself, and there would be no one around to express concern about, or take advantage of, the fact that she was an unmarried, unescorted young woman.

Lizzy wandered to a park she and Jane had taken their young cousins to only a few days previously. They had found a litter of kittens and she meant to check on them.

As she approached the park, Lizzy heard the delighted shriek of a young girl, as well as the laughter of a man. She considered taking a lesser-known entrance so as not to disturb them, but shrugged the thought off. The park was a public one and anyone was welcome to be there at any point in time.

"Come back here!" the little girl giggled.

"You shall _never_ catch me, dear one!"

Lizzy very nearly stumbled at a combination of the voice she heard and the scene she saw. None other than Mr. Darcy, dressed in clothes of decidedly lower quality than she would have supposed him to even own, was trotting about with a girl no older than six trailing after him. He allowed her to catch up to him, then snatched her up and swung her through the air as she squealed in joy.

"Miss Bennet!" Mr. Darcy exclaimed, finally noticing her standing at the entrance as he paused in spinning. He set the little girl down, who had immediately stopped smiling upon sighting Elizabeth, and bowed, as was expected of him.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said awkwardly. "Pardon me, I had no intention of – "

"No, no, there is nothing to pardon," said Mr. Darcy. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, he cleared his throat. "I was not aware you were in London."

"My sisters and I arrived several days ago," Elizabeth offered. "My youngest are to stay with the Longbottoms, and Jane and Mary with Mr. Bingley. I am with my aunt and uncle."

"Bingley's here also?" Mr. Darcy asked.

"He arrived yesterday," said Elizabeth. "I would imagine he will call on you before long."

"I – " Mr. Darcy started, then coughed and tried again. "I am not home to visitors, presently."

Elizabeth looked down at the little girl with blonde hair trying desperately to hide behind Mr. Darcy's form while clasping one of his hands. "I would imagine you would prefer spending time with your family to spending time with others," she said cautiously.

Mr. Darcy seemed to recall that his hand was occupied and smiled down at the girl behind him. "My sister, Georgiana," he said with evident pride. His smile faltered as he turned back to Elizabeth. "She is not comfortable around strangers."

Determined to show she had improved herself since their last encounter, Elizabeth swallowed heavily before saying, "How lucky she is to have such a caring brother, then, that will take her out for amusement at a time that will enable her to avoid that which makes her unhappy."

Mr. Darcy looked surprised for a moment, then allowed himself to smile warmly. Elizabeth thought the expression fit him rather well.

Elizabeth lowered herself to her knees, as she often did with her young Gardiner cousins, and spoke sweetly to the hiding girl. "Good morning, Miss Darcy. My name is Elizabeth. I go to school with your brother."

Georgiana poked her head around her brother's legs, clearly interested in the information Lizzy was offering.

Lizzy smiled in encouragement. "He and I have many classes together, as a matter of fact," she continued. "I should hope, Miss Darcy, that you would be willing to tell me some stories I might tease him with when he becomes exceedingly tedious."

Georgiana had dared so much as to take a step out from her hiding place and was blushing from the effort. She began twisting slightly, so her skirts wrapped around her one way, then the other. All the while, she kept a firm grip on her brother's hand.

Lizzy looked over both her shoulders and spoke lowly, as though telling a secret. "Tell me, Miss Darcy, do you like kittens?"

Georgiana's eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically.

Lizzy had been about to offer to take the young girl to see the discovered litter, but Georgiana's eyes suddenly went wide. The girl froze for a moment, then her breathing began to quicken.

"Georgiana?" Mr. Darcy asked worriedly, lowering himself to be at her level and exactly in front of her. "What is the matter, dearest?"

Elizabeth quickly rose to her full height and turned so she might see what it was that had so frightened Georgiana. Though she only caught a glimpse of the man that had been watching them before he darted away, she was in no doubt of his identity.

When Elizabeth turned back to the Darcys, it was to see that Georgiana had begun to convulse where she stood. Though Mr. Darcy was doing his absolute best to calm her, she seemed not to hear him.

"Wickham," Elizabeth said.

Mr. Darcy's head whipped around, his eyes filled with rage. "Where?" he snarled.

"There," Elizabeth answered, pointing. "He's run off now."

Mr. Darcy looked between the entrance to the park and his sister, obviously torn.

Elizabeth was not sure how, but she knew that Georgiana's strange and dangerous behavior was linked to Wickham. She stepped to Georgiana's side and laid a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "Georgiana," she said soothingly. Encouraged by the fact that Georgiana turned an ear toward her, she continued. "Would you like to see those kittens?"

"Miss Bennet…" Mr. Darcy said tightly.

"Go. I will watch her," Elizabeth said without looking at him. After a moment's hesitation, she heard his boots beat a hasty exit.

Lizzy looked at the girl before her with great concern. Georgiana's eyes had rolled back in her head. She looked very much like Lizzy imagined a person possessed by a demon must.

Thinking of all the times Lizzy and her sisters had helped each other calm down from various fits simply by matching each other's breathing, Lizzy grabbed one of Georgiana's hands and put it to her collarbone before beginning to take deep, calculated breaths. "Georgiana, can you match me?"

It took another minute or so, but Georgiana's breathing began to even and her shaking turned merely to trembling. Her eyes, though still unfocused, returned to a normal position.

"There you are," Lizzy said, relieved and happy. "Would you like to see those kittens now?"

Georgiana was merely twitching by this point, and she put her hand into Lizzy's outstretched one. Before they could start moving, she planted her feet firmly and looked around.

"Your brother saw an old friend of his," Lizzy said in response to the girl's inquiring and concerned look. She did not consider herself to be lying. She did not, after all, say that the pair were _still_ friends. "He shall be back very soon, I promise. Kittens cannot be of much consequence to a grown man, anyhow. We shall stay within view of the path. Is that acceptable?"

Georgiana gave a single nod, then allowed Lizzy to lead her away, though she constantly checked over her shoulder.

* * *

_Damn it all! _Darcy shouted in his mind. He had followed the direction Elizabeth indicated, but was forced to admit defeat after just a few minutes. There were any number of side streets or alleys Wickham could have taken to escape, and he had no desire to be any further away from Georgiana or Elizabeth than necessary.

_How_ had Wickham gotten loose? He was supposed to be constantly under guard until heading out to Australia. Fitzwilliam had assured Darcy that Wickham's guard would be changed regularly to avoid Wickham forming any sort of relationship that would allow him to charm his way out. Darcy intended to exchange some very heated words with his cousin and whatever guards had failed in their duty, but first, he needed to secure Georgiana.

Upon returning to the park and not seeing Georgiana and Elizabeth exactly where he had left them, Darcy's panic nearly overwhelmed him. Some small, logical part of his brain miraculously managed to make itself heard. Elizabeth surely would not have gone far with his sister. Likely, she had simply taken Georgiana off the path so no one passing by would witness the girl's fit.

Darcy forged ahead on the park's trail, keenly scanning his surroundings for any hint of where Elizabeth had hidden away with Georgiana. He was most shocked to hear his sister's giggle and broke into a run until coming upon a scene which made all his worries disappear, if only for a moment.

Georgiana was seated on the ground, a great grin on her face, as kittens stumbled over her and let loose their most impressive meows. Though the kittens seemed to prefer Georgiana, the girl insisted on continually offering one or two to Elizabeth, who was sat just over a foot away, smiling contentedly in response to Georgiana's evident glee.

"Thank you, Miss Bennet, for looking after my sister," said Darcy to announce his presence.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all," Elizabeth said as an answer. "She seems a delightful girl."

Darcy could not help but doubt Elizabeth's sincerity, considering what condition Georgiana was in when he left. He was deeply curious as to how Elizabeth had managed to calm his sister, but that was a question that would have to wait. "Georgiana, we must go," he said decidedly.

Georgiana looked pleadingly at her brother while holding a kitten close to her chest.

"I know you would like to play with the kittens more, dearest, but I'm afraid it's not possible," Darcy said gently, but firmly.

Georgiana huffed, but got to her feet. She gave each of the kittens a final pat before reattaching herself to her brother.

"Miss Bennet, please allow us to see you back to your aunt and uncle's," Darcy said, offering his arm. He was not about to let Elizabeth out of his sight with the likes of George Wickham roaming about with a chip on his shoulder. He expected a fight from her, but he was more than willing to engage in the battle and determined to win it.

Elizabeth surprised him greatly by saying, "Thank you, Mr. Darcy," and accepting his arm.

Darcy found himself immensely pleased with his current situation, despite the fear burning deep in his chest. He was certain he would never grow tired of having Georgiana on one side and Elizabeth on the other. He dared to let himself hope the experience might be repeated, and often, if he could just convince Elizabeth to give him another chance.

At the border between the park and the main street, Georgiana planted her feet and was clearly unwilling to go any further.

"He's gone, dearest," Darcy said.

Georgiana shook her head and looked around fearfully.

"I think, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth quietly, "that I should perhaps see myself back. Miss Darcy will certainly feel better inside her own home, and the sooner she can get there, the better."

"Miss Bennet, please!" Darcy burst as Elizabeth started to walk away.

Elizabeth turned and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Please," Darcy said in a more measured voice. "I should feel much more settled about this morning if I were to see you safely to your door."

Elizabeth simply looked at him for a long moment, and he began to fear she would go off without him, but she finally nodded.

Darcy pursed his lips as he looked down at his frozen sister. She would not move of her own volition, he was certain. Sighing and praying she would not scream in objection, he picked her up and settled her on his hip, encouraging her to hide her face in his shoulder. Mercifully, she did not fight her removal from the park in such a fashion.

"Forgive me for not offering you an arm," Darcy said as he brought himself even with Elizabeth.

"You are quite excused, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth. Using her skill that Darcy both admired and envied, she kept innocuous and easy conversation flowing their entire journey. Not once did she ask any questions about Wickham or about his sister's fit, nor did she at all reference their last interaction. He was entirely grateful.

Eventually, Elizabeth stopped in front of a well-kept house that was nearly in a fashionable part of town. "I hope the rest of your day is more peaceful than your morning, Mr. Darcy," she said politely, and made to turn toward the door.

"Might I call on you tomorrow?" Darcy asked quickly before his courage could fail. "I – I should like the chance to explain a few things."

"There is nothing you need to explain, Mr. Darcy."

Darcy disagreed with every fiber of his being, but managed to reply humbly, "You are perfectly within your right to refuse me, Miss Bennet, but I hope you will give me an opportunity."

Elizabeth thought for several moments, during which time her eyes wandered to Georgiana tucked against Darcy's chest multiple times, before consenting. "I will make sure we are home to receive visitors."

Before Darcy could truly let himself feel relieved, he needed one more assurance. "Miss Bennet," he said, stopping her progression toward the house once more, "I know it is not my place to make such a request of you, but please consider staying on your relative's property for the time being."

Elizabeth, for what must be at least the dozenth time that morning, surprised him by smiling lightly. "I think I will," she said. "Today's adventure was enough for a few days, at least."

After watching the door shut when Elizabeth entered her uncle's house, Darcy hailed the first cab he came across and took it to his Aunt and Uncle Matlock's. Fitzwilliam had yet to leave his parents' for the barracks after the holiday, and so Darcy would be able to cross several items off his to do list at once.

Darcy first resettled Georgiana in her room at the Matlock's and made arrangements so she would not be unsupervised by a person he deemed trustworthy at _any _point in time. When questioned by his aunt as to why Georgiana was to be guarded with such diligence, Darcy said it was only for a few days and begged that he not be asked more questions. His aunt, though very clearly displeased, assented and left to tend her niece.

Next, Darcy prowled through the house until coming across Fitzwilliam in the billiards room. He slammed the door, then ripped the pool cue from his cousin's hand and demanded to know why Wickham was running amuck in the streets of London. Fitzwilliam, immediately filled with just as much rage as Darcy, declared he had no idea what happened, but promised he would find out.

"At least now he can be punished for desertion!" Fitzwilliam had said with relish as he shoved his feet back into the boots he had abandoned in a corner of the room. He left without any further ceremony.

Anxious and restless, Darcy hurried back to his own house and summoned a variety of people to him. Fitzwilliam, he knew, would assure all Wickham's magical means of remaining hidden would be systematically eliminated. It fell to Darcy to tend to any Muggle means, and he did so with a vengeance. With any moments not spent on the search for Wickham, Darcy practiced his skill with either a foil or a fake wand. He would not allow himself to be caught unawares in any situation.

The moment acceptable visiting hours began the following day, Darcy got onto his horse and took off down the streets of London.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Whew! Long chapter for you today. I hope you enjoyed! Please share your thoughts in a review or PM. I'm anxious to know your first impressions of little Georgiana.


	15. Chapter 15

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lizzy?" Mrs. Gardiner asked.

"Not at all," Lizzy admitted. "It can hardly be avoided now, whatever my thoughts."

"At least you're having them now, which I doubt you were yesterday morning, else you would not have gone rambling about on your own," said Mrs. Gardiner archly. "This is _not_ Hertfordshire, Lizzy."

Lizzy had the sense to blush. "Rest assured, Aunt, I will follow standard protocol henceforth. It was marvelously convenient for me to be out when I was, though, was it not?"

Mrs. Gardiner rolled her eyes. "Hopeless," she muttered with good natured exhaustion.

"Doesn't this look well on me?"

Lizzy looked to the doorway to see that one of her cousins had been in her room and grabbed her Gryffindor scarf. "I think those colors look good on anyone," she said with a smile.

"Irene!" Mrs. Gardiner chastised. "Have I not taught you better than to dig through things that are not yours?"

"I wasn't digging, Mama," Irene objected. "I went to see if Lizzy was in her room and this was out on her bed."

"Hmmm," Lizzy said thoughtfully, knowing full well her scarf had been in her trunk, "perhaps the colors of Ravenclaw or Slytherin would suit a devious child such as yourself better!"

Irene blanched at having been called out on her lie and hung her head as her mother began scolding her in earnest.

After sending her child back to the nursery with strict instructions to remain there until further notice, Mrs. Gardiner returned the scarf to Lizzy.

"I am not upset, Aunt," said Lizzy. "Not truly. Irene was only curious."

"Don't go about defending her, Lizzy, I am not in the mood," Mrs. Gardiner cautioned.

Before Lizzy could work at leading her aunt from her sour state, she heard the telltale sounds of someone being let into the house.

Mrs. Gardiner looked out the window overseeing the street. "Do you recognize the horse, Lizzy?"

Lizzy's breathing became shallow and somewhat hurried. Her aunt had been correct with the statement that she had not been thinking a great deal the previous morning. Now that she was to be confronted by the man she had behaved absolutely atrociously to at one meeting and with decided politeness and cooperation the next, she found herself feeling remarkably anxious.

Mrs. Gardiner looked to her niece with a raised brow when she was not joined by the window. "Shall I remain here, Lizzy, or come up with an excuse to leave you to sort out your issues yourself?"

Lizzy was unable to formulate a response before Mr. Darcy was announced. Paler and quieter than usual, she fell back on well-engrained protocol and greeted the man with a curtsey before introducing him to her aunt.

"You have a charming house, Mrs. Gardiner," said Mr. Darcy. His shoulders were noticeably tense as he spoke and his knuckles were white from the grip he had on his hat. His eyes swiveled briefly to Elizabeth before he managed to continue, "I imagine it is conveniently placed for both shopping and Mr. Gardiner's business."

Elizabeth felt her eyes widen as she recognized that Mr. Darcy was attempting to engage in small talk with her aunt.

Mrs. Gardiner, though feeling remarkably smug, did not visibly express such when she responded to Mr. Darcy. As she replied in fashions that gave Mr. Darcy easy opportunities to continue the conversation, he began to relax somewhat. He even went so far as to set his hat down, thus leaving his hands unoccupied. Even so, his pervading discomfort with such an activity was evident to the astute woman.

"Perhaps this might seem an odd question, Mrs. Gardiner, but do you happen to have any tulip bulbs that you would be willing to part with?" Mr. Darcy asked after a few moments. His eyes had shown a renewed tension, and his leg had begun to bounce.

Recognizing Mr. Darcy to have finally gathered enough courage to attempt his goal of speaking with Lizzy in private, Mrs. Gardiner said that she did and asked her niece to tend to the duty as she needed to check on her children.

Elizabeth agreed to perform the requested office, gathered her coat, and led Mr. Darcy to her aunt's garden.

"Miss Bennet," Mr. Darcy said urgently after only a few moments of being outside.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth answered. She looked toward him only briefly before hurriedly grabbing a trowel from its place of storage.

"I – " Mr. Darcy swallowed with difficulty. "Before I even attempt to say anything else, please allow me to apologize for my abhorrent behavior."

"Yours is not the only behavior that has been lacking, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said smally. In all her hours of reflection, she had come to accept that not only was Mr. Darcy not so horrible as she had made him out to be, but she had done her utmost to see that everyone of her acquaintance thought as ill of him as she did. "I find myself rather embarrassed by the way I last addressed you. It was – "

"What did you say that was not true?" Mr. Darcy interrupted. He held up a hand to forestall any objection from Elizabeth. "I am still wrapping my head around it all, I will admit, but reflection upon your harsh, though well justified words, as well as further observations from some who know me best has caused the scales to fall from my eyes. I was raised with good principles, Miss Bennet, but have only barely followed the letter of such, and certainly not observed the spirit of them at all. I am determined to begin anew. Should you be willing, I would be grateful for your assistance in the form of continued honesty."

Elizabeth simply stood for several moments as she processed what she had heard. Was this man that she had put down so cruelly truly asking her to continue to do so?

"I understand my request to be one of great magnitude," Mr. Darcy began again, truly looking nervous now. "You are well within your rights to shout at me and demand I never speak to you again. I cannot think of any way possible to justify or excuse the irrational words I spoke against you, but I do so fervently hope you might allow –

Elizabeth put her gloved hand on Darcy's arm to silence him. She felt her blood pulsing through every inch of her body, she was so nervous and uncomfortable. As appealing as the idea of running away and never dealing with this was, she managed enough self-control to say at an appropriate volume, "We both said things we regret, Mr. Darcy. If you are willing, perhaps we might give each other a fresh start."

Mr. Darcy exhaled, released a great deal of tension from his shoulders, and even allowed himself to smile. "I would like that very much, Miss Bennet. Thank you."

Elizabeth flashed her own smile, then held up the trowel. "What particular variety of tulip should you like unearthed?"

Darcy, who had forgotten about his flimsy excuse, laughed.

Cautiously optimistic about their current truce, Elizabeth allowed her lips to spread again in amusement. "Well, Mr. Darcy, you made the request of my aunt. At this point, you cannot possibly leave the premises without that which you requested."

"You are, of course, correct," said Mr. Darcy. "I would have you surprise me."

Elizabeth nodded in acceptance and led the way further into the garden in search of her quarry.

"Would you be willing to allow me to ask you some questions about yesterday?" Darcy asked hesitantly after following Elizabeth for a few moments in silence. He had prevaricated long enough. "I should also hope to satisfy any curiosities you might have." He could feel his heartbeat in his throat. In the past twenty-four hours, he had become more and more confused and concerned by the previous morning's dealings.

"I suppose," Elizabeth answered. She pulled a random bulb from the ground and handed it off. "There. We shall both be surprised when that blooms."

Darcy pocketed the bulb and gestured to a nearby bench. Elizabeth sat and he began pacing.

"How did you manage to calm my sister so quickly?" Darcy settled on asking first.

"Does she often suffer such distressing fits?" Elizabeth asked concernedly. "That must be upsetting, indeed."

"Her fits are, thankfully, becoming less frequent," Darcy answered. "Or at least they had been. Please, tell me."

"I had her breathe with me," Elizabeth answered. "It is a tactic my sisters and I use on each other frequently. I simply placed your sister's hand on my chest and breathed deeply. As she matched me, she calmed down."

Darcy managed to only let his eyes flick to Elizabeth's chest once before firmly fixing them on a nearby tree. "Have you any theories as to what might be the cause of such behavior as she displayed?" he asked delicately.

"I believe the beginning of that episode could be pinpointed to her sighting Mr. Wickham," Elizabeth offered. "I was under the impression he was awaiting transport to his new assignment. What business could he have had being in the area so early in the morning? I cannot imagine his superiors would grant him such liberties so close to his departure date."

Darcy ground an unfortunate rock into the earth as an outlet for some small amount of his rage. "That is a very good supposition, Miss Bennet," he said through his teeth. "It is a question that myself and Major Fitzwilliam are determined to have answered.

"As to what business he might have had in such an area as this so early in the morning," Darcy said uncomfortably, "I fear that business might have been you."

"Me?" Elizabeth asked. She laughed in surprise. "What business could Wickham have with me?"

"Likely, the kind that cannot result from honorable intentions," Darcy spat. He took several deep breaths to try to regulate himself before looking at the curious woman before him. "As I stated, albeit very poorly, once before, Miss Bennet, you are a very pleasing person to look at, which would interest George Wickham exceedingly."

"Oh," Elizabeth said, looking down uncomfortably.

"Wickham is the kind of being that only considers himself and his own desires," Darcy continued. "I hope you might forgive me for being so very plain about the matter, but I know you to be of a strong constitution. Wickham would not have taken kindly to you besting him in that duel, and so he likely thought to find you to exact revenge for his own humiliation by ensuring a humiliation of the most enduring sort for you."

Elizabeth crossed her arms. A shudder went through her that had nothing to do with the cold. She had not liked the way Wickham had looked at her back in Hogsmeade, nor how he said her name with such familiarity. Knowing such thoughts were justified provided no relief. "And so you insisted on walking me back," she said.

"I couldn't let there be the risk of you – of him –"

"Please don't say anything more of that," Elizabeth said quickly, putting her hands to her ears. She did not want any more details of Wickham's intentions, nor was she ready to hear another declaration of any sort from Mr. Darcy.

"I've upset you," Mr. Darcy said dismally after a moment. "Please forgive me. I'll leave you alone."

Elizabeth shook herself of the fear she had been feeling and drew herself back to her full height with a familiar light in her eyes. "You need not be so hasty," said she. "I am upset, true enough, but I would rather be aware of the dangers and on my guard than be caught in ignorance."

Darcy felt a small, prideful smile steal over his face as this familiar version of Elizabeth returned.

"Tell me, Mr. Darcy, what has Wickham done that caused your sister to react so violently to the sight of him?"

Darcy exhaled heavily. He had been dreading being asked the question, but accepted the inevitably and found himself strangely eager to divulge the secret to someone else. Even before he had seen the care Elizabeth had given Georgiana, Darcy had known in his gut he could trust the creature before him with such a tale. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the bench beside Elizabeth.

Elizabeth hesitated only a moment before scooting to give him adequate room.

"I warn you, Miss Bennet, that this story is decidedly unhappy, unresolved, and one that I have put a great deal of effort into concealing," Darcy cautioned.

"I do not wish to force a confidence from you, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said quickly.

"I am not forced," said Darcy. "Aside from explaining Georgiana's struggles, I am hopeful the story will give you insight to my own fears. To be quite honest, those fears have been powerful forces in my life this past year and a half. I would make the request of recounting these events without interruption." As much as his instinct was to hide any sign of weakness, Darcy forced himself to make eye contact with Elizabeth and allow her to see the torrent of emotions therein.

"I will not interrupt," Elizabeth promised with understanding.

Darcy took a calculated breath before beginning his tale. "You are aware, I know, that Wickham and I grew up together. My father was his godfather and supported him at Beauxbatons when he turned ten. I am younger than him and did not go until I was eleven, so he was well established by the time I came. I quickly discovered he was not at all trusted and, almost just as quickly, discovered why. He was known for a whole host of faults and vices. I won't offend your sensibilities with the details.

"I began to distance myself from him, and in fact cut him as much as possible when he began trying to draw me in. Before things between us could become truly problematic, he was summoned back to England on account of his father's health. During Old Wickham's time of illness, his son attended Hogwarts. I have not bothered with making inquiries, but I would imagine he behaved much the same way he did at Beauxbatons," Darcy said with a slight shrug. "In any case, once his father had passed, Wickham stopped attending school under the guise of deep distress, but I knew differently. I knew that, no longer inhibited by his father continuing to draw breath, Wickham allowed himself to be completely swallowed by his vices.

"I considered telling my father of Wickham's depravity, but hesitated because I knew it would pain him to learn his godson had become such a scoundrel. My decision was made firm by the death of my mother upon Georgiana's birth." Darcy could hear his voice becoming devoid of emotion and allowed himself to be enveloped by numbness and continue mechanically. To be numb was easier than to be in despair. He did not let himself look over at Elizabeth. Whatever he saw in her eyes would break him, he was sure. "My father was so distraught over her passing that I feared the news of Wickham would kill him. I consoled myself over hiding the knowledge by the fact that I saw little of Wickham in the upcoming years, though I heard of his dealings frequently enough. I hoped never to have to deal with him again."

Darcy cleared his throat a few times to buy time to brace himself for the next chapter in his story. Mentioning his mother had been difficult enough, but he was not nearly done. "After my mother's funeral, I took a month at home before returning to Beauxbatons, though I was loathed to do so. I knew my father's health would deteriorate rapidly without my mother at his side. As the end of my fifth year approached, I received word of my father's imminent demise and hurried home. I was able to be with him for a full two days before he left this world.

"I had no difficulty making the decision to remain home for the year. Georgiana was only three at the time and needed a family member to look after her. Additionally, I needed to see everything with the estate transferred to my care." Darcy began to feel as though he was being constricted from all sides. Thinking about the magnitude of his responsibilities put him under a great deal of stress. It was only by focusing on one or two things at a time that he kept from being completely overwhelmed. "Wickham appeared not long after the death of my father to discuss the living that had been set aside for him as the parson at a place called Kympton. The idea of him taking up such a role filled me with absolute revulsion, so my relief upon his statement that he did not want to take orders and would accept monetary compensation was great, indeed. I parted happily with the agreed upon amount of three thousand pounds, in addition to the thousand pounds my father intended him to have, and hoped to never see him again.

"After several months, I began to think of the future again, and knew I had to complete my education. I determined I would finish schooling at Hogwarts. I would be closer to Georgiana and home. I also knew it had been my mother's desire to send me to Hogwarts initially.

"She was a woman of great sense, Miss Bennet, and I think she would have liked you exceedingly well," Darcy could not help but deviate from his story. He looked at Elizabeth's hands, which were as close to her face as he was willing to risk at the moment. "She did not see the sense of sending English children to a foreign school, especially since Hogwarts is such an internationally respected institution and its professors lauded by anyone of any sense in the country."

Darcy allowed himself a moment of bitter amusement over what his mother would have said about his abysmal interview with Elizabeth the week prior before continuing on.

"A month before I was to enter Hogwarts, Wickham again darkened my doorstep," Darcy said tightly. He allowed his ever-simmering rage to begin to rise. It was a more secure feeling than the vulnerability that the deaths of his parents brought up. "He somehow managed to exhaust all the funds I had granted him less than a year previously and requested the living at Kympton, as it had conveniently – rather too conveniently, truth be told – become vacant. I refused him, we argued, and he left. I thought that was the end of it. I so desperately wish it had been."

Darcy saw, from the corner of his eye, Elizabeth's hand reach for his. Mercifully, it retreated before meeting its end. He felt certain he would crumble at being on the receiving end of such a gesture from her.

"I left for Hogsmeade, intending to stay a few days to secure a house that I would share with Georgiana and to be evaluated by the professors," said Darcy. He had not realized he had curled his hands over the edge of the bench until he felt his nails object to the strain of being pressed into the tough material. He focused on that physical pain, rather than the mental, as he carried on. "While I was thus occupied, Wickham put a plan into action involving my sister's nanny, Mrs. Younge – in whose character we had been most seriously deceived – and a sleeping draught introduced to my staff's dinner to kidnap Georgiana."

Darcy closed his eyes and dug his nails harder into the bench.

"You needn't c – "

Darcy plowed on before Elizabeth could tempt him to stop. "I received word in Hogsmeade as soon as was possible, but it was too late. I knew not where Georgiana was, nor did anyone else. Fitzwilliam and I searched for a week complete before we received any information. Wickham knew I would be desperate to get Georgiana back. That I would do _anything_. And he was right. He wanted to make an Unbreakable Vow that I would back him financially for as long as he so desired in exchange for Georgiana's return and his silence on the whole affair.

"Fitzwilliam, thank God, is much more used to life-or-death situations than I am, so he looked at the situation from multiple angles while I was lost to desperate panic," Darcy said with a single sharp chuckle. "We managed to find where Wickham had hidden Georgiana away. All things considered, it is lucky he involved Mrs. Younge or we might never have found him. In the madness that ensued, Georgiana did accidental magic that killed Mrs. Younge and Wickham managed to escape."

Darcy heard Elizabeth's quick intake of breath and could well imagine the sympathy on her face.

"Wickham and I never exchanged another word, but he is not stupid, and neither am I," said Darcy. "We both know that we hold power over the other. I am well within my rights to call him out. He is not necessarily a master at any sort of combat, but he is formidable, nonetheless. Even so, we both know I would trounce him if such were to occur, so he has avoided it. I have hesitated to raise a hand against him for fear he would spread Georgiana's misfortunes, thus making it entirely impossible for her to have anything resembling a normal life."

"And that is why she was so fearful upon seeing him yesterday," Elizabeth said breathlessly, "and why she is uneasy with strangers."

Now that the story had been told, Darcy felt as though a great weight had been removed from his shoulders. He _finally_ looked at Elizabeth's face to see tears had been dripping down it for some time. Reflexively, he pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her. Later in life, he would wonder at the fact he did not take advantage of the opportunity to wipe the tears away, himself.

"Georgiana has not been completely at ease with another human since," Darcy said by way of confirmation. "In fact, _you_ are the first non-family member she has willingly interacted with." He bit his tongue to keep from saying anything further on that score. He was incredibly grateful of Elizabeth's earlier offer of a truce and was not willing to risk it by repeating _any _sentiments from their last meeting in Hertfordshire. Not yet, anyway.

The pair simply sat in silence for several minutes, each processing what had just occurred.

"Miss Darcy's fits," Elizabeth began.

"I don't think she would object to you calling her Georgiana, Miss Bennet," said Darcy. He spoke truthfully, but was also desperate to bring Elizabeth's spirits back up.

A weak smile flickered across Elizabeth's visage, but no hint of it remained thereafter. "Georgiana's fits. Are they related to your private study with Professor Flitwick?"

Darcy pushed himself off the bench and began to pace once more. "Yes," he admitted after a few moments' thought.

"She fears her own magic now, doesn't she?" Elizabeth asked gently. "She's begun to repress it. She's afraid she'll hurt someone else, like she accidentally did Mrs. Younge."

Darcy fell onto the bench again and put his face in his hands. "She has not yet… _erupted_," he said uneasily after searching for a fitting word, "but I do fear greatly that she is well on her way to becoming an obscurial. For months after the incident, she fell into fits similar to what you saw yesterday anytime she became distressed. She wasn't improving after my care, and I feared I might even be making her worse by serving as a constant reminder of that whole mess. I made arrangements for her to live with our relatives, the Matlocks, until further notice. When I went with Bingley to Hertfordshire, I had only just moved Georgiana."

"And so you were especially out of sorts," Elizabeth mused quietly.

"That is one way to put it," said Darcy. Georgiana had _not _been pleased to see him go. Her terrified and piercing screams begging him to stay still haunted his nightmares. When he arrived in Hertfordshire, he had very much been doubting the decision to leave her and absolutely wallowing in self-loathing. Georgiana's recovery had been slow and agonizing, but, eventually, he began to receive reports from his aunt relating seemingly insignificant dealings that were actually anything but. Georgiana made eye contact with another person after three weeks. She smiled at her uncle after four. She touched her first living thing, a dog, since the ordeal after two months.

"Oh, how can you ever be willing to forgive me for behaving so abominably to you all this time!" Elizabeth suddenly exclaimed.

Darcy quickly straightened and set his wide eyes onto Elizabeth's face, which was streaked with fresh tears.

"Of _course_ you should mistrust and dislike other people, especially those with whom you are not familiar!" Elizabeth continued. Whether her tears were from sorrow or anger, Darcy could no longer tell. "Look at what was done to you by someone that should have been a close friend and confidante!"

"Elizabeth," Darcy said firmly. Even though he knew he was dealing with a woman on the brink of hysteria, he could not help but enjoy saying her name. "I gave you every reason to think ill of me. Please do not allow yourself to struggle on that score any longer. After all, have we not agreed to begin anew? Was that not _your _suggestion?" he asked, trying to infuse some of the teasing tone he had heard Elizabeth exercise so frequently into his own speech. His efforts were well rewarded.

Elizabeth laughed for a moment and wiped determinedly at her eyes. "You are absolutely correct, Mr. Darcy," she said with a sniff. "I will forget my previous misjudgment entirely and seek new reasons to think poorly of you."

Darcy smiled at the return of Elizabeth's wit. "I shall certainly provide you such reasons. I would not deny any pleasure of yours."

Elizabeth seemed uncertain of how to respond to such a declaration. She fiddled with the handkerchief for a few moments longer before carefully folding it and holding it out to Darcy.

"Please keep it," Darcy offered. "As we are both aware, you women are exceedingly fragile and can burst into tears with the slightest provocation," he dared to tease.

Elizabeth looked quizzically at Darcy for a few moments, then stuffed the handkerchief in her pocket. "Well, if nothing else, I might make use of it as a white flag at some point in the future," she said smartly.

Before Darcy could allow himself too much hope at the idea of what Elizabeth's meaning might be, she stood and announced he had certainly stayed past the acceptable amount of time for a polite visit. He left entirely elated, as she granted him permission to call on her again.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Comments? Questions? Concerns? I'd enjoy addressing them. -wink wink- -nudge nudge- -coughreviewcough-


	16. Chapter 16

When Mr. Darcy next came to call, Lizzy found herself _excited_ to see him. He had allowed her to experience a completely different side of himself, and she was deeply curious to see more. When he was shown to her uncle's study instead of the parlor, however, her curiosity was run over by suspicion. Suspicion turned to anger when she was summoned to her uncle's study fifteen minutes later.

"Lizzy, is there something you would like to tell me of your walk two mornings ago?" Mr. Gardiner asked calmly, seated behind his desk with his fingers interlocked over his chest.

Elizabeth felt her eyes widen and she slowly turned to glare at Mr. Darcy, who seemed completely unrepentant. "I happened to catch sight of an acquaintance from Hogsmeade," she offered tightly.

"Did you intend to alert me to the fact that this 'acquaintance' happens to be a rather untrustworthy character with reason to be angry with you?" Mr. Gardiner said mildly.

"If I truly thought there was reason for concern – "

"Elizabeth, you are trying my patience," Mr. Gardiner said with a hint of a growl.

"I am not doing so intentionally, sir," Elizabeth answered. She was determined to be civil with her beloved uncle, as she always was. He was only concerned for her wellbeing and that of his family, and he had every right to be so. Her frustration was with Mr. Darcy. "I did not believe sighting Mr. Wickham was cause for alarm. As you are now aware," she said with a pointed look at Mr. Darcy, "I have bested him once before and have every confidence I could do so again."

"Were you able to use your wand, Lizzy, you are entirely correct," Mr. Gardiner conceded. "However, you are, for nearly a year yet, unable to do so off Hogwarts grounds."

"Extenuating circumstances, such as self-defense, would excuse the use of underage magic," Elizabeth said reasonably.

"In a just world, you would, again, be entirely correct," said Mr. Gardiner.

"Wickham, most unfortunately, has connections to the Office of Underage Magic," Mr. Darcy interjected.

Elizabeth was busy trying to set Mr. Darcy ablaze with her eyes, and so she missed the warning look her uncle gave the man to be quiet before speaking again.

"Did you listen to _nothing_ your aunt said to you the other night, Lizzy?" Mr. Gardiner asked quietly. "Ours is not a just society."

Elizabeth blushed from a combination of things and lowered her gaze. "What is it you want from me, Uncle?"

"Your safety," Mr. Gardiner instantly replied. "Most unfortunately for you, my dear Lizzy, that means observing some Muggle customs for the duration of your stay here."

Elizabeth grimaced, confident she already knew what was coming.

"Before this incident, your aunt and I would have been content with you walking out with any member of our household. Now, however, I must place the stipulation that whoever you go out with is able to freely employ magic. That means myself, your aunt, or the butler," said Mr. Gardiner.

"None of you are ever available!" Elizabeth burst, sounding every bit the petulant teenager. Teenager though she was, she typically behaved and spoke above her years. Such a display showed the extent of her displeasure. "I shall go mad, locked up in the house! Why should I be punished for some other imbecile's predatory nature?"

"Lizzy, you are not being punished." Mr. Gardiner's lip twitched upward slightly. "If I were to punish you, I would send you back to Longbourn."

"Perish the thought!" Elizabeth impulsively replied. After her uncle cracked a smile, she laughed. Annoyed she may be, and justifiably so, but she knew her uncle only to be doing what he truly thought was best. "Very well," she sighed. "I will stay on the property unless you, my aunt, or Mitchell are able to walk out with me."

"I could offer my services."

Elizabeth turned slowly on one foot. "Have you not yet done enough, sir?" she asked archly.

"When I inherited Pemberley, I went through the necessary steps to be allowed free reign with my wand, though I was underage and had also not completed my sixth year of schooling," Mr. Darcy said, apparently not noticing the trouble he was in. "Should your relatives be unavailable, I could walk with you."

"Then let us make our first excursion now," said Elizabeth decidedly. Without a look back, she quit the study.

Darcy looked confusedly toward Mr. Gardiner.

"May God be with you, Mr. Darcy," said Mr. Gardiner amusedly.

Pursing his lips in agitation, Darcy hurried after Elizabeth. She was already nearly out the front door by the time he had grabbed his hat and walking stick.

"Miss Bennet!" he called as she tried to outstrip him. He could easily catch up to her, but he did not much fancy the idea of running through the streets of London.

Elizabeth rounded on him with a look of fury on her face. "How dare you!" she snarled.

"How dare I?" Mr. Darcy repeated, his guard quickly rising as well as his temper.

"Yes, how dare you! You took it completely upon yourself to make arrangements for me with my uncle without consulting me! I am _not_ some frail slip of a thing that will swoon with the smallest provocation! I am fully capable of reason and making my own decisions, and I do not at all appreciate being treated otherwise," Elizabeth said hotly.

Mr. Darcy forced himself to take several deep breaths before responding in anger. He had made that mistake with Elizabeth once and was not eager to have the experience repeated. "Such was not at all my intention, Miss Bennet, I assure you," he said.

"Then what, pray tell, was your intention?" Elizabeth asked.

"Merely to see what your uncle intended to do about the matter," Mr. Darcy answered.

"And you thought that to be a conversation I ought to have been excluded from?" Elizabeth said with a raised brow. "Am I not capable of providing thoughts on the matter?"

Mr. Darcy looked toward the sky, utterly frustrated with the situation and himself. He sighed before speaking again. "I suppose I am not used to consulting that which I wish to protect."

Thinking back to all she had been told yesterday, Elizabeth immediately softened. "Again, I failed to consider your point of view in the matter," she said. "I am still not pleased at your presumption, though I suppose I can understand it."

"I did not mean to offend you in the slightest," said Mr. Darcy. "I simply do not want to see you come to harm, Miss Bennet."

Elizabeth sighed the last of her frustration out. "Well, we have both made mistakes again. Let us learn from them and move on."

"With pleasure," said Mr. Darcy genuinely. He offered his arm, which was accepted, and began to lead Elizabeth down the road.

"Why were _you_ out so early the other day, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked after a few moments of quiet. "I cannot imagine you live terribly close to here. And you were in such _strange_ clothes," she added, looking pointedly at his high-quality jacket.

"All was done in an effort to allow my sister to enjoy being outdoors without either of us being recognized for who we are," said Mr. Darcy. "Obviously, my plan was not a good one."

Elizabeth permitted herself a quick laugh. "Perhaps it might have been, if not for me."

"I do not blame you in the slightest."

Silence settled again. Elizabeth let it pass for several minutes, partially due to wanting time to order her thoughts, and partially due to a desire to make Mr. Darcy step out of his comfort zone and find a topic of conversation. "Have you any updates on Wickham?" she asked. Patience had never been one of her strongest virtues.

Mr. Darcy's deep frown was quite enough of an answer.

"What is being attempted?" Elizabeth asked.

"May we, perhaps, speak of something else?" Mr. Darcy asked irritably. He kicked a pebble with unwarranted aggression.

"No," said Elizabeth simply.

"You can be absolutely maddening," Mr. Darcy muttered. "Are you aware?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered pertly. "This situation is, however, entirely of your own making, as you volunteered to escort me."

Mr. Darcy sighed heavily before lowly summing up for Elizabeth what was being doing to locate Wickham.

"What of friends he might have made at Hogwarts?" Elizabeth asked. "You say Fitzwilliam is tracking his friends from Beauxbatons to see if they might have a clue, but he spent some time at Hogwarts."

"His stay at Hogwarts was only a few months," said Mr. Darcy.

"I had only known them two months before I felt certain I would be friends with Jo and Phoebe until the day I die," said Elizabeth in response. "And they were still a year behind me at the time. For some, it is easy to make friends."

"Yes, Wickham does have that ability," Mr. Darcy growled. "Whether or not he can keep them is an entirely different matter."

"Well, while he has lost the friendship of yourself and, I am sure, various other respectable persons, I would suppose he managed to maintain the good opinion of some others cut from the same cloth as himself," Elizabeth ventured. She had become distracted by a rather large dog across the street, and so did not notice Darcy perk up when she called him respectable.

"You are correct," said Darcy after allowing himself a silent moment to rejoice. "I will look into the matter. _Now_ can we speak of something else?"

"I have canvassed the subjects I am interested in for the day, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth archly. "If you wish to converse, you shall have to find the topics of conversation."

"Very well," said Darcy. If she wished to play games, he could certainly do so. "What was it that your aunt discussed with you the other night that made you blush so?"

Elizabeth blushed violently, answered evasively, and directed the conversation thereafter.

* * *

"Oh, Lizzy, how good it is to see you!"

"We have only been apart a few days, Jane," Lizzy laughed as she hugged her sister.

"And that is too long for my tastes," said Jane.

Lizzy smiled as her sister began to regale her with all that had happened since coming to stay with Bingley and the Hursts. She listened patiently and calmly, but was by no means unaware of Mary lurking in the background.

Mary, of course, knew all that had happened with Lizzy in the past weeks, and kept giving her elder sister looks indicative of an approaching conversation that would be quite lengthy. Lizzy intended to avoid that conversation as long as possible. She began to feel as though she was dealing with a demiguise, for she had to keep her actions unpredictable and think as little as possible if she were to best Mary. Mary smiled against her will and rolled her eyes.

_I am not ready to tell Jane_, Lizzy repeated over and over again.

"Excuses do not work on me, Lizzy," Mary said lowly as she passed her sister at some point.

After a mere half hour, Lizzy was finding herself rather exhausted. She had willingly agreed to come to Bingley's for dinner, eager to see her sisters. Now, however, each sister was presenting her own trial. Calliope might have done the same, if she had not been thoroughly engrossed by the fur rug in Bingley's parlor.

"You're quite sure this was here when you bought the house?" Calliope asked, prodding the edge of the rug.

"Positive," Bingley confirmed. "Why do you ask?"

Calliope went on to explain she thought the fur might have come from a recently extinct animal, and began to wonder aloud if the fur upon which she sat might have been from the last one that ever lived. Bingley seemed very displeased with the idea.

"Well, that is enough on my part," Jane sighed after a long while. "Tell me of your past days, Lizzy!"

Confronted with the very subject she wished to avoid, Lizzy answered vaguely. "Every day in London is an adventure, Jane. Why should my days be interesting in comparison to yours, engaged one? Have you and Charles set a date yet?"

Concern flickered across Jane's face. She glanced around the room, noted the number of persons in it, then gave Lizzy a look that quite clearly said they would have further discussion on the subject at another time. "We have not yet," Jane admitted. "I would so like to be married from Longbourn. Charles and I have discussed it. We will wait for a time to see if Mama can be brought around. Either way, we will not marry until after the school year is done, so there is no rush."

"Oh, but surely there is!" Lizzy dramatically exclaimed. "For Papa could die at any moment, and then what is to become of us all?"

"Lizzy," Jane said in warning.

Lizzy laughed Jane's caution away. "Have you had no word from home?"

"Actually," Jane said, rising from her seat and making her way to a footman. She made a quiet request and returned. "Charlotte sent a letter here, for you. Well, Sir Lucas sent it to Bingley to maintain propriety. But Charlotte knew that if she sent something to Bingley's address, the letter would get to me, and I would get it to you. It's all a rather convoluted mess, but I suppose it worked."

Jane and Lizzy made several more comments on the absurdity of Muggle customs before the footman returned with the letter Jane had asked him to retrieve.

"Go on and read it here, Lizzy," Jane said. "We are practically among family, and all of us here have been so _very_ curious as to its contents."

Lizzy raised an eyebrow at Jane. "Have you, now? And what shall you give me in return for my satisfying your curiosity?"

"Miss Elizabeth, if you do not read that letter now, I shall pry it from your hands and do it myself, and no one can be upset with me in my condition," Mrs. Hurst said forcefully from across the room.

Lizzy smiled at the woman. She had only been around Mrs. Hurst a few minutes, but could already see the effect being separated from her sister had. Mrs. Hurst was still perhaps a little aloof, but not nearly so obnoxious as when Caroline had been about.

"Very well, Mrs. Hurst," Lizzy ceded. "I should hate to add stress to a woman working on growing another human being."

"A wise decision," Mrs. Hurst muttered good naturedly.

While Lizzy opened Charlotte's letter, Jane went to sit beside her future sister-in-law and engaged in pleasant conversation.

"Charlotte is suspicious about our sudden departure," Lizzy announced after reading the first chunk of her letter. "It is the main reason she sent her letter here. She says she would not be surprised to find out we left as the result of 'a difference of opinion' in regards to dealings with Mr. Collins."

"Charlotte is ever so clever," said Jane.

"Miss Lucas is an exceptionally observant woman," Mrs. Hurst agreed. "I think she may have begun to suspect my condition very shortly after I did."

A decidedly unladylike sound burst from Lizzy as she continued to read her letter.

"What is it, Lizzy?" Jane asked concernedly, hurrying to her sister's side.

"Clever and observant Charlotte may be," said Lizzy with disgust, "but that has not prevented her from allying herself to one of the stupidest men in all of England!"

"What?" Jane asked with wide eyes.

"Collins proposed to Charlotte!" Lizzy exclaimed, brandishing the letter. "She accepted! They are to marry two weeks from today. She writes that she hopes I might be able to attend and to invite me to stay with her at Hunsford for Easter!"

Jane did not bother finding a polite excuse as she took Lizzy by the arm and led her from the room.

"Foolish, foolish woman!" Lizzy snarled once the door to the library had closed after herself and Jane. "After all she suspects, she still accepted that toad?"

"Lizzy, think rationally," Jane coached.

"I _am_ thinking rationally!" Lizzy countered.

"You are _not_," Jane insisted.

Jane's firm tone snapped Lizzy from her spiraling out of control. She began regulating her breath as Jane continued.

"Mr. Collins is not a good match for you or me, but he is for Charlotte," Jane said. She took the letter from Lizzy and set it aside. "Much as we may wish differently, Charlotte is a Muggle. Her only option is to marry and, with her age and position in society, must take whatever respectable offer might be made to her. You know her well enough, Lizzy. She is fully aware of what she is doing."

Lizzy huffed and crossed her arms. "This is all so unfair."

"I agree with you entirely," said Jane, "but it is done. Charlotte cannot back out of the agreement now. She will be Mrs. Collins. She'll have her own home, Lizzy, and not have to continue to feel a burden to her parents. Charlotte is, I am sure, knowledgeable of Mr. Collins's simple nature, but that may be part of the appeal for her. He will be easy for her to manage."

The thought of Charlotte stuck in such an unequal marriage for the rest of her life left a bad taste in Lizzy's mouth. "Charlotte will 'manage' him with little difficulty," she said after several moments of working her jaw in irritation. "I so wish she had been born a witch!"

"If only wishing made it so," Jane sighed. "How do you mean to reply?" she asked, grabbing the letter from where she had set it earlier.

Lizzy looked at the missive with unconcealed disgust before taking it back into her possession, using only two fingers and holding it away from her person. "As much as I would like to support Charlotte in whatever way possible _and_ object to the wedding during the ceremony," she said smartly, "I cannot imagine how I would explain my presence in Hertfordshire while failing to stay at Longbourn."

Jane pursed her lips in thought. "Perhaps we ought to write home," she suggested. "Do you think we might be able to come to some sort of agreement with Mama, for the sake of being able to attend Charlotte's wedding?"

Lizzy looked at her sister unamusedly. "The fact that we would be returning expressly _for_ Charlotte's wedding to Mr. Collins will make Mama absolutely unmovable. It is, after all, Mr. Collins's marriageability that is the cause of this whole debacle."

"Since the initial shock of your refusal of Mr. Collins has passed," Jane ventured, "it might be easier to make Mama see reason. We know she cannot understand that we, as her daughters, can provide for her. But I am engaged to Charles now. Were we truly Muggles, he would be able to provide adequately for us all."

"Yes, but you were already engaged to him when Mr. Collins proposed to me," Lizzy argued.

"Only for eighteen hours," Jane countered. "Time changes things. Come, Lizzy. Let us at least _try_ making peace."

"For Charlotte's sake," Lizzy grudgingly agreed.

* * *

"Mr. Darcy to see you, Miss," announced a maid.

Elizabeth barely refrained from groaning. She most definitely did _not_ want to see Mr. Darcy at the moment. "Show him in," she said resignedly. Whatever her desires, she did not feel she could politely refuse him entrance without a good reason.

While she waited for the maid to fetch Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth looked over the letter she had begun drafting to her mother. It was a poor attempt, at best. After thinking about what she might write while she slept, she had worked on it for the better part of an hour and had less than half a page to show for it. She just could not manage to write the words she thought would appease her mother while still maintaining her own self-respect.

"Miss Bennet."

Elizabeth rose from her chair and greeted Mr. Darcy. "What brings you to Cheapside today, Mr. Darcy?" she asked after inviting him to sit.

"I wondered if you had the opportunity to walk today, or if responsibilities had kept your possible companions from you," Mr. Darcy answered.

Elizabeth looked at the clock on the wall. She had not realized how much of the day had gone by. "I have not walked today," she said. "I have been attempting a letter to my mother."

Mr. Darcy's face darkened briefly, but he then schooled it to a familiar expression of haughty indifference. "Do your parents continue to refuse you entry to Longbourn?"

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at the man sitting across her. "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked.

Elizabeth gestured to his face. "Is showing emotion such a horrible thing to do?"

Mr. Darcy thought for several moments before answering. "Do you really wish to know the reason behind my current expression?"

"Yes!"

"Very well," Mr. Darcy acceded. Almost instantaneously, his face was overcome by intense anger: his jaw clenched, his skin reddened, his eyes darkened, his lips thinned, his eyebrows drew together. "I use that expression to hide the severity of my feelings because I am aware that displaying such can work very much to my detriment."

Elizabeth recognized what she saw on Mr. Darcy's face now. She had seen aspects of it during various classes and seen it at its full extent whenever Wickham was concerned. "And what has you in such a state?"

Mr. Darcy ground his teeth as he considered his response. "I am not sure it would be wise for me to answer that just now."

"You cannot possibly say anything worse to me than you have already," Elizabeth attempted teasing.

Mr. Darcy's anger was quickly replaced by a panicked concern. "I thought we had agreed – "

"Calm yourself, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said lightly. "I was only trying to put you a little more at ease with expressing yourself."

The dark cloud returned to Mr. Darcy's face in full force. "As you are so determined to know the cause of my ire, I suppose I shall tell you," said he. "It is your parents."

Elizabeth could not help but feel anger rise in her chest. Mr. Darcy had already thrown her bloodline in her face once before, and she did not like the idea of it happening again.

"I cannot think well of people that would turn their own child out of the house because said child refused to agree to a life of absolute misery merely to appease their own desires to keep an entailed estate in their possession," Mr. Darcy finally confessed. "It is abhorrent to me that you are treated in such a fashion."

Elizabeth could not fully explain why, but she felt the need to justify her parents. "Well, in truth, it was only Mama that said I should not come back unless I had changed my mind. She acted in anger. She cannot help it. She doesn't know another way to secure her own future than by marrying her daughters off. And Papa understood when I said I would not marry Mr. Collins."

Mr. Darcy's face, if possible, became even more severe.

"What?" Elizabeth asked irritably.

"I think it would be better for me to not say," Mr. Darcy replied.

Completely abandoning Muggle propriety, Elizabeth folded her arms over her chest, leaned back in her seat, and crossed one leg over the other. "I will not be moved, Mr. Darcy. If you will not answer me, then take your leave. Our paths will cross at Hogwarts."

"Is this to be the state of things?" Darcy asked with a pronounced frown. "Will you present me with such an ultimatum every time I refuse you?"

Elizabeth only quirked an eyebrow.

Mr. Darcy heaved a great sigh. "I don't care if your mother premeditated barring you from the house or if she acted on the impulse of the moment. Given her own fears of a disgraced and penniless existence, I can find absolutely _no_ justification for her condemning her daughter to such a fate, for we both know that would be your position, if you were a Muggle. That she has made no effort as of yet to even attempt to reconcile with or find you only compounds her cruelty. I know I am in no position to say as much, but I can never forgive Mrs. Bennet for her mistreatment of you."

Elizabeth felt her jaw slacken to the point it must be hanging open, but she made no effort to pull it up. She had never heard such a condemnation of her mother. Mrs. Bennet was easily excitable, silly, predictable, and ridiculous, but Elizabeth had never before heard her be described as cruel.

"As for your father," Mr. Darcy continued, "I cannot think well of a man that would allow his daughters, the youngest being only ten, to simply ride off without knowing where they were going, and all because he cannot be bothered to take his wife in hand. I rather pity his tenants. If he is so callous toward his daughters, I cannot imagine what life for those under his care, but of no relation, must be like."

Elizabeth now opened and closed her jaw several times without making a sound.

Mr. Darcy's anger began to mingle with concern. "Have I spoken too plainly? Truly, I took no pleasure in telling you such things, and would take them all back into my mind if I could."

Once, Elizabeth might have raged and yelled at Mr. Darcy without a second thought. After all that had recently occurred, however, she took a moment to collect her thoughts before making any sort of reply.

"I did not realize you felt so strongly on the subject, Mr. Darcy," she said finally.

"I cannot help but feel strongly on the subject," Darcy answered, his eyes holding Elizabeth's captive.

Elizabeth suddenly found herself feeling very confined, and quickly rose from her chair. As she waited for Darcy to get to his feet, she decided she would like to ignore everything that had just happened for the time being. "As I told you earlier, Mr. Darcy, I have not had the opportunity to exercise today," she said. "I shall again take you up on your offer to be at my disposal."

Darcy looked down at Elizabeth with evident worry for a few moments, then sighed and said he would be pleased to grant her request. He had rather hoped Elizabeth would wish to walk in silence for a while. He wanted to devote some time to carefully calculating how he might save Elizabeth the bother of interacting with her parents ever again. Considering the fragile state of their understandings of each other, he knew that the situation would have to be handled with extreme caution. Elizabeth, however, seemed determined that not a moment of quiet would occur between them.

"How fares your sister?" Elizabeth asked.

"Georgiana refuses to be out of the sight of my aunt or uncle, presently," Darcy answered, eyes fixed ahead of him as he answered mechanically.

"Have you been to see her yet today?"

"No. I have stayed away. Her relapse is bad enough without my being there as a reminder."

"Have you considered the presence of her brother might make her feel safer?" Elizabeth asked. "She seemed quite comfortable with you the other morning, both before and after Wickham's appearance." She rather liked the image of Darcy protectively holding his sister.

"I am only acting in a way that I believe will help her recover most quickly," Darcy defended.

"I do not doubt it, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said patiently. "I will continue to encourage you to reconsider, however. When one is refused to be seen by a relative, that one is likely to begin to feel as though their relative is ashamed of them."

Darcy finally looked at the woman beside him, fully aware of her double meaning. "I could never be ashamed of Georgiana. Very well, I shall do as you have said and see her this evening."

"I think that very wise of you," Elizabeth said mildly.

"If your mother _is_ ashamed of you, Miss Bennet, it only makes her all the more foolish," Darcy said, trying to keep the vitriol in his voice to a minimum.

Elizabeth decided to pretend as though he had not made his last comment. "I saw Mr. Bingley yesterday," she said cheerfully, instead. She looked up to Darcy's face, noted his lingering concern, and forced a smile to her face in attempts to convince him of her wellbeing.

"I won't press you on the matter, Miss Bennet, but please understand that I am not fooled by your false cheer," said Darcy. "If, or when, you are willing to speak more on the matter, I shall be perfectly happy to listen."

Elizabeth blushed, but again chose denial over further engagement. "Bingley seems to be host to rather a happy party. Jane has been getting to know Mrs. Hurst better. I did not think it would be possible, but they may even become good friends."

Darcy sighed internally, but finally entered into Elizabeth's chosen topic of conversation. "At Netherfield, I noticed Mrs. Hurst was much changed since the summer, and not just because of her condition. I rather think being separated from Caroline suits her very well."

"I would imagine separation from Caroline suits everyone well," Elizabeth said smartly.

Darcy coughed to cover a laugh. "I cannot truthfully deny it. Louisa only graduated Beauxbatons this past June. When Caroline left for Hogwarts, it was the first time the sisters have been separated in their mature lives. Without such a domineering personality about, I would imagine Louisa was able to behave more as she truly wished to, rather than having to consider her sister's every reaction."

"I think you must be correct," said Elizabeth. "Charlotte had mentioned she had had several pleasant interactions with Mrs. Hurst. I think she and Mr. Hurst were starting to become rather integrated with Meryton society. Will they return to Netherfield, do you think?"

"That will depend on Bingley, I would imagine," said Darcy. "In years past, I would state confidently that Bingley would return to Netherfield and smooth over any ill will remaining in the area from previous events," he said delicately. He glanced with concern to Elizabeth, but her equilibrium did not seem to be upset. "Since coming to Hogwarts, however, I find I am not able to predict what Bingley will do as well as I once was."

"How so?" Elizabeth asked. "Jane mentioned before that Charles has changed, but I must confess I haven't seen it. He still seems as amiable as ever."

"I recognize how this might sound," said Darcy somewhat uncomfortably, "but I cannot think of another way to say it: Bingley has finally developed a backbone. It used to be that, with a few carefully placed words from the correct person, Bingley's will could be directed any which way. Now he stands firmly on his own. It was he that sent Caroline away, you know."

"Yes, I remember once having a conversation over how eager Charles is to please his friends," said Elizabeth, her eyebrows drawn together. "Did you ever exercise such a power over him?"

"I made most serious efforts not to," Darcy answered quickly, before Elizabeth's anger could begin to manifest. "I did my utmost to advise him on various matters impartially. It was only when he was beginning to lean toward doing something unwise at the bidding of his sisters that I employed such tactics."

Elizabeth seemed satisfied with such an answer, and the pair's conversation ventured into much less dangerous waters for the duration of their walk.

When they arrived back at the Gardiner's, Mrs. Gardiner invited Darcy to stay for tea. He readily accepted the offer and was utterly delighted to meet Elizabeth's young cousins who, he noted with great interest, she doted on without spoiling. The more he learned of her, the more alluring she became.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Awww, look at those cuties beginning to figure each other out! It'd be a shame if something were to... come between them...

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	17. Chapter 17

Lizzy was very surprised later in the week when she went to dinner at Bingley's with her aunt and uncle in celebration of the new year to be greeted by Darcy.

"I thought you did not intend to be social, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said lightly. Once everyone had settled in the parlor, Darcy had seated himself near her, and so she took advantage.

"I had not planned on doing so," Darcy admitted. "However, I have since learnt that my choices to keep to myself can be misinterpreted."

Elizabeth drew herself up in her chair and raised her nose slightly into the air. "What sage advice, sir. Whoever imparted such knowledge to you must be wise, indeed," she said with teasing pomposity.

Though the smile Darcy gave was slight, his eyes lit with pleasure at being teased so by Elizabeth. When the time came to eat, he was very happy to be allowed to escort her into dinner. As everyone became occupied with either conversation or food, he quickly and eagerly told her that he had spent all of New Year's Eve with Georgiana and there had not been even a hint of one of her fits.

Elizabeth shared in Darcy's genuine joy over Georgiana's progress and encouraged him to give her details of the day.

The easy conversation shared by Darcy and Elizabeth did not go unnoticed. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner shared many a knowing look. Jane's expression as she carefully observed her sister might have been described as shrewish. Bingley's eyes shone with boyish mischief as he watched his friend interact in a way he had never seen with a woman. Mary remained thoroughly engrossed by her plate, though the corners of her lips twitched upward every so often.

"What the devil?" Bingley said in utter confusion when the unmistakable sound of someone at the front door floated through the air. "Who would call at such a time?" In a huff, he roughly set down his silverware and threw his napkin onto the table before going to see what the fuss was about.

"How strange," Mrs. Gardiner commented, "to be disturbed during dinner. I hope it is nothing serious!"

Elizabeth's brows furrowed as she spoke lowly to Darcy. "Could this have something to do with the search for Wickham?"

"I did not tell anyone I would be here, so I rather doubt it," Darcy answered at a whisper. "Unfortunately, the blackguard remains at large."

"Well, it seems we are to have two more join us unexpectedly!" said Bingley cheerfully upon reentering the dining room. Stood behind him were Professors McGonagall and Flitwick.

"Oh, no," Elizabeth breathed as McGonagall's eyes locked onto her. "I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Darcy asked. Understanding dawned suddenly upon his face. "You were supposed to meet with McGonagall, weren't you?"

"I was," Elizabeth confirmed as Flitwick drew chairs for himself and McGonagall. She was provided a reprieve by the fact that her professors seemed content to, for the moment, catch up with the Gardiners.

Darcy chuckled lowly, earning a glare from his dinner companion. "Forgive me," he said with barely contained mirth. "I find the idea of you being chastised by a woman as formidable as yourself to be highly amusing."

Elizabeth huffed and turned to Mrs. Hurst, seated on her other side, as punishment.

"Mr. Bingley, would it be possible for me to have use of your library for a few moments?" McGonagall asked as the last dishes were being cleared away. "I have something I should like to discuss with Miss Elizabeth."

Elizabeth hid from her unease over the situation for a few moments longer by allowing herself the pleasure of stepping on Darcy's foot under the table while he made a great show of wiping his mouth off with his napkin.

"Certainly, Professor," Bingley acceded easily. "Lizzy, you remember where it is, I am sure? Would you be offended if I did not show you both there?"

"Of course not, Charles," said Elizabeth, rising from her seat to face her fate. "Please, devote your attention to your other guests without another thought for me!"

"Imagine my surprise," McGonagall began the moment the library door shut, "when I arrived at Longbourn to be told that you were not in residence. That you had not been for nearly two weeks, as a matter of fact. More shocking, still, was the fact that no one seemed to know where you, or any of your sisters, were."

"We did leave rather abruptly," Lizzy confessed. She began toying with her sleeve behind her back. The fact that she had caused McGonagall excessive concern made her feel uneasy. The only woman Elizabeth respected more than her professor was her Aunt Gardiner.

McGonagall's lips thinned another degree. "When no one at Longbourn was able to tell me of your whereabouts, I set out to see if the neighbors might have an idea. I was not aware I was in mourning of a colleague," she said drily.

"It was a quickly made excuse to explain the fact that all of us had gone," Lizzy offered.

McGonagall seated herself in a chair and indicated Lizzy should do the same.

Lizzy sighed as she lowered herself. "I am very sorry, Professor, for failing to keep our appointment. I should have informed you I was not at Longbourn."

"Yes, you most certainly should have," said McGonagall unhappily, "especially since I have received news that a wanted criminal is currently _very_ interested in your whereabouts."

Lizzy felt the blood drain from her face. "You know of that?"

"Bennet, why don't you just tell me what all has happened to land you in this predicament?" McGonagall asked tiredly.

Lizzy did so. She only left out details of her conversations with Darcy, as she did not believe them to be relevant, though she did own to running into him at the park near her uncle's house. Such could hardly be avoided if she were to answer McGonagall with regards to Wickham.

McGonagall removed her glasses to pinch the bridge of her nose once Lizzy had finished telling her tale. "This might just be your finest mess yet, Bennet."

"I don't go searching for trouble," Lizzy muttered.

"But it certainly does find you," McGonagall sighed. "I am sorry for the situation with your parents," she said with sympathy.

"I regret nothing," Lizzy answered quickly. "I have resigned myself on that score, Professor, and have no further wish to discuss it." She thought briefly of the letter she had started to her mother, but thrown into the fire before completing it. Instead, she had composed a letter to Charlotte wishing her joy in her marriage, though Lizzy thought there would be little enough of that, and expressed her great sorrow at being unable to attend the ceremony.

"I will leave you to the care of your sisters on that subject, then, unless you should say otherwise," said McGonagall. "As for Wickham…"

"I only saw him the one time, Professor," Lizzy said exasperatedly. She was rather tired of everyone making his grudge out to be such a big deal. If she, as the one on the receiving end of the man's ire, was not concerned, then why should everyone else be? He had kidnapped Georgiana, true enough, but the girl had been only just shy of five at the time and hardly able to defend herself. "Truly, I do not think he represents much of a threat to me."

"Think again, Bennet," McGonagall said sharply.

Lizzy straightened at her professor's tone.

"Further investigation into George Wickham as revealed his involvement in multiple kidnappings going back three years that the aurors have been _very_ interested in," said McGonagall. "He has also become a person of interest in a murder or two."

Lizzy allowed herself a few moments to absorb the shock before making a response. "How has his involvement only just come to light? How did he manage to gain a position in the government?"

"Come now, Bennet," McGonagall chided. "You're intelligent enough to be able to come up with an answer to that."

Lizzy pursed her lips in agitation, but did not make a thoughtless reply. "Wickham excels at subterfuge and manipulation," she said eventually, "and he is able to identify and, often successfully, charm those whose protection he might need."

"All arts he mastered long ago," McGonagall said with a nod.

"Why have I not been approached by someone from the Ministry?" Lizzy asked after a moment. "It must have been from them that you heard of my being a target."

"The Ministry only just became aware of your role in all this earlier today," McGonagall answered. "The aurors realized that an acquaintance of yours, Richard Fitzwilliam, was doing his own investigation and gained his cooperation from his superior officer."

Lizzy shot up out of her chair. "Excuse me, Professor," she said shortly, and left before McGonagall could object.

"You there," Lizzy said demandingly to the footman outside the parlor where the rest of the party had assembled after dinner, "please inform Mr. Darcy that he is wanted in the library."

The footman nodded and turned to fulfill his orders.

Chest heaving, Elizabeth waited in a doorway Darcy would have to pass on his way to the library. At exactly the right moment, she rushed from her spot and shoved her object with all her might. "If I was able to, I would curse you where you stand until you could do so no longer!"

Darcy righted himself, more surprised than anything by Elizabeth's attack. He was such an impressive figure, and she such a slight one, that even all her effort had done little more than knock him slightly off course. "What is it I've done now?" he asked peevishly. He had thought they had been getting along so well the past several days.

"I am now, thanks to you," Elizabeth paused long enough to jab Darcy in the chest with her finger, "an object of interest to the Ministry as needing protection!" she bit out.

As Elizabeth drew breath to say more and pulled back her arm to make another attack on his chest, Darcy reached out and grabbed the offending hand, holding it off to the side of her face. "What on earth are you talking about?" he asked as reasonably as he felt he was able.

Elizabeth used her other arm to shove the heel of her hand into his sternum, and so Darcy captured that limb, also.

"Let me _go_!" Elizabeth hissed dangerously.

"Not until you tell me what it is I've done that has put you in such a state," Darcy said evenly. The more rage Elizabeth displayed, the more he focused on presenting a calm demeanor. It would not do for both of them to be acting upon impulse.

"_You_ told Fitzwilliam your theory about Wickham being after me, and he's gone and told the aurors about it!" Elizabeth snarled. She made an attempt to wrench herself free, but was entirely unsuccessful. "Did it never occur to you," she added as she continued to struggle in vain, "that Wickham may very well have followed _you_ to the park that morning?"

"I had considered it," Darcy answered calmly while maintaining his ironclad grip. "Seeing as he only appeared after you did, however, I believe I came to the correct conclusion. If he had wanted to accost me or Georgiana, he would have shown himself earlier.

"As for telling Richard my _theory_," Darcy continued, "I could hardly do otherwise. He alone knows all the same details I shared with you last week and is my most trusted ally in this and all other matters. If the aurors are after Wickham, I can only thank Richard for making them aware of your predicament! For them to rouse themselves on Wickham's behalf, he must be up to a great deal more than I had originally thought."

"I do not need to be watched over like some ailing child!" Elizabeth said venomously.

Darcy looked toward the ceiling and said a quick prayer for patience. "That is not what is being done here," he said. "_Why_ does it bother you so much that others want to assure your safety?"

"I am bothered," Elizabeth said through her teeth and again trying to free her wrists, "because it is all being done without my consent, and without my being consulted!"

Understanding finally beginning to dawn, Darcy lowered himself until he was able to see Elizabeth's slightly downturned face. She was trying, and failing, to suppress frustrated tears. "You do not like having control taken from you."

Elizabeth ceased her fighting, but turned her face further from Darcy.

"Having the power to make your own decisions is not something you take for granted, and you know you only have that power because you're a witch," Darcy thought out loud. "Decisions being made for you in the magical world is making you fear you'll lose any control over your own future."

"Let me go," Elizabeth said quietly.

Darcy finally obliged, and Elizabeth made a hasty exit. For a moment, he considered following her, but realized that would likely be his stupidest decision regarding her yet.

Darcy returned to the parlor, where he was not at all surprised to find McGonagall had found and situated herself in. He located Jane, seated near the fire, and made his way over. He grabbed a poker and began rearranging the logs.

"I believe your sister could use your assistance," Darcy said out of the corner of his mouth.

Jane, in quite an impressive display of control, brought her cup to her face which had become unreadable. "Where is she?" she asked before taking a sip.

"I wish I could give you an exact location," Darcy answered.

Jane made her way to Mary without another word said to Darcy. After a brief exchange with the legilimens, she slipped out of the room.

* * *

"You're staying here for the night."

Lizzy felt a hysteric chuckle escape her body. "I refuse to be more of an imposition on Charles than I have been already by drawing extra guests to his house."

Lizzy heard Jane approaching and covered her face with her hands. She did not want anyone's pity at the moment, not even her most beloved sister's.

"Up."

Jane's harsh demand was so far from what Lizzy expected that she uncovered her eyes without thinking. Jane was standing before her with hands on hips and lips set in a hard line.

"I will be fine in a moment, Jane," Lizzy tried to say easily. "Just let me collect myself."

Jane disappeared for a moment, and Lizzy heard the door click shut and the lock latch. "You have been hiding things from me, Lizzy," said Jane as she made her return, "and I have let you. But no more. Tell me all."

And Lizzy did. She told Jane every single detail that had occurred since Bingley's ball, save Georgiana's experience with Wickham. On that subject, all she said was that Wickham had betrayed Darcy in one of the most horrid ways imaginable and firmly told Jane she would not give any more detail. She told her sister all the turmoil she felt regarding how her parents had treated her, which had been more difficult than she expected. When she finally finished off with the events of the evening, Lizzy felt absolutely exhausted.

"I wish you would have told me sooner, Lizzy," said Jane. Now that her aim had been achieved, she was back to her usual sweet, empathetic self. Halfway through Lizzy's explanation, she had curled herself up beside her sister and begun stroking her hair.

"I didn't want to ruin the beginning of your engagement any more than I already had," Lizzy said after sniffing heartily. She was not usually one for crying, but the past weeks had proven exceptionally stressful.

"I told you already, dearest, that you did not ruin anything," said Jane soothingly. "I am much happier here, in London with Charles and my sisters, than I would be at Longbourn. In a selfish way, I suppose I am grateful Mama said you weren't welcome anymore. It has spared me her effusions and being shown off as a prized object."

Lizzy laughed thickly, then unceremoniously wiped her nose on her sleeve. "What have you done with my dear, sweet Jane that is incapable of saying a word against anyone?" she asked in an attempt at levity.

"We've had this discussion, Lizzy," Jane answered. "That Jane died the moment you nearly did."

"What a delightful pair we make, then," Lizzy said. "Both of us seem determined to think the worst of everything in the world."

Jane allowed herself to smile at Lizzy's continued efforts of humor. She then carefully unfolded herself and held her hand out to her sister. "I think it is time we went to bed. You will stay with me."

Lizzy was all out of fight, so she allowed herself to be led to Jane's chamber and collapsed, fully clothed, on top of all the bed coverings.

* * *

"Good morning, Lizzy," said Jane's amused voice.

Lizzy rubbed her eyes and looked around until finding Jane seated on a settee across the room. She next looked confusedly at the sunlight streaming through the window. "What time is it?"

"You slept through breakfast," Jane said as an answer, and turned a page in the book she was reading. "Aunt Gardiner sent a fresh gown for you. Uncle Gardiner says he will send a carriage for you late this evening, unless he receives word that other plans have been made."

Lizzy swung her feet out of bed and lumbered over to Jane before unceremoniously throwing herself into her sister's lap.

"Lizzy!" Jane objected while laughing. "I do not wish to join you in wearing wrinkled clothing!"

"You should have thought of that before locking me up and pulling all my secrets from me," said Lizzy unrepentantly, wiggling just that much more to add to the creases developing in Jane's skirts.

The sisters continued to tease each other for several minutes longer before Jane finally succeeded in shoving Lizzy onto the floor and rising to straighten her clothes. "If you are through behaving as a wild animal, Lizzy, I shall be happy to help you make yourself presentable."

Lizzy let Jane help her up and proceeded to begin preparing to face the day.

"Have your feelings toward Darcy changed very much, Lizzy?" Jane asked as she brushed her sister's hair.

Lizzy sighed heavily. She had been relieved when Jane did not press her to examine her feelings last night, but knew the reprieve would not last long. "I cannot think of him as I did before the ball," she admitted. "I now know him to be respectable, shy, and fiercely protective – overbearing might be the better word."

"Perhaps he was Sorted incorrectly," Jane mused. "It sounds as though he might be better suited to Hufflepuff."

Lizzy laughed. "I did not mean for calling him 'overbearing' to be taken as a compliment of his character."

"You only think him overbearing in his dealings with you," said Jane, grabbing a lock of Lizzy's hair to begin twisting. "In his dealings with his sister, I imagine you would stick with 'fiercely protective.'"

"Something simple, Jane," said Lizzy as Jane grabbed a pin. "I think I would like to leave my hair mostly down today. I won't be in the company of any Muggles whose sensitivities I might offend."

Jane nodded and began anew. "I think, Lizzy, that you have come to admire Mr. Darcy a great deal and are simply struggling to find a way to admit it without having to reconsider all your actions toward him and finding them lacking."

"I have reconsidered my actions toward him and found them lacking," said Lizzy waspishly.

"Then what is the problem?" Jane asked, the bulk of her attention still seemingly focused on Lizzy's hair.

"I don't know," Lizzy groaned in frustration.

"Do you like him?"

"Maybe?" Lizzy answered honestly.

"I will take that as an affirmative," said Jane.

"It is most certainly _not_ an affirmative," said Lizzy firmly. "I am not sure I possess any feelings toward Mr. Darcy in the way that he would hope."

"Do you think it possible for such feelings to develop?" Jane asked. She had begun placing pins in her sister's hair.

Lizzy took a moment to think before answering that yes, it was possible.

"Then let the opportunity exist," Jane suggested. "You fight, Lizzy, because we were raised largely in world where, once married, everything that we possess and everything that we _are _would belong to our husbands. That is not the case now, dearest. If you were to come to an agreement with Mr. Darcy, or any other wizard, you would be entering a partnership, not a servitude."

Lizzy sighed and turned in her chair to look upon her ever-sensible sister. "What could I have ever done to deserve someone so good as you in my life?"

"Whatever it is, it must have been done when I was not around, for I have no recollection of it," Jane teased. She finished styling Lizzy's hair with a dramatic flourish, ignoring her sister's mock outrage. "Now, come along, Lizzy, for there is much to be done today!"

"Oh?" Lizzy asked lightly. "Is that why you sat, reading a book, waiting for me to awaken?"

"I didn't say there was much for _me_ to do today," Jane clarified. "Professor McGonagall is planning on arriving in an hour. She's determined to have your lesson. And Professor Flitwick wants to speak with you and Darcy about something."

"Darcy is coming again?" Lizzy half whined. She did not particularly want to face him after her meltdown last night.

Jane rolled her eyes in response. "There's a tray for you in the adjoining sitting room. McGonagall plans to work with you in the library. I'm going to a Madam Malkin's with Louisa; she needs new robes."

"And so do you," Lizzy said with a suggestive twitch of her eyebrows. "You need to start assembling your trousseau!"

Jane blushed. "I will get _some_ new robes and gowns, eventually. Now go eat!"

* * *

Lizzy enjoyed her lesson with McGonagall very much and was grateful her mentor did not mention their previous conversation or the abrupt way it ended.

"That's a job well done, Bennet," McGonagall praised as she gathered her cloak. "We'll discuss the next two chapters in your book when term begins."

"Is there a possibility of me coming back early?" Lizzy asked eagerly. Having time apart from her parents _and_ Darcy would go a long way in settling her mind.

McGonagall quirked a knowing eyebrow. "I will not aid you in running away from your problems, Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Gryffindor House."

"I thought it might be the best avenue to keep myself and others from having to worry about Wickham getting to me," Lizzy said, thinking quickly.

McGonagall pursed her lips and simply stared Lizzy down for a moment before saying in a tone of clear dismissal, "Professor Flitwick plans to come by around seven this evening. I will see you at the start of term."

Lizzy sighed in frustration after McGonagall disapparated.

"So, your lesson went that well, did it?" Bingley asked, appearing from around the corner.

Lizzy looked at Bingley unamusedly, which only made him laugh. "My lesson went perfectly well, thank you," she said sternly as his laughter began to fade. "Do you have something you could be doing besides annoying your future sister-in-law?"

"Yes, I do," said Bingley. "Asking said future sister-in-law for help."

"That's rich," Lizzy quipped.

Bingley smiled widely, making any of Lizzy's ire dissipate. "I anticipate that _all_ my future sisters-in-law will spend a great deal of time in my house," said Bingley. "I was hoping you would be willing to help me choose the most suitable rooms for each and provide some suggestions for decorations. I'd like to make it an engagement gift of sorts for Jane."

Lizzy readily agreed to the scheme and delighted in being shown the various options. For Mary, she chose a room that was fairly isolated and quiet. Kitty's room overlooked a nearby park, so she would be able to see the various creatures and people flitting about. Lydia's room provided a view of the street so the excitable girl would be able to keep watch for visitors.

"Charles, this so very generous of you," Lizzy said after making some suggestions for Lydia's room.

"It is something I am very happy to do, and hope you will take advantage of often," said Bingley. He made pointed eye contact before continuing. "In fact, I would not object to any, or all, of Jane's sisters taking up permanent residence here, instead of Longbourn."

Lizzy felt her heart swell with appreciation for the man in front of her, and she grinned. "I thank you for the offer, Charles, and will keep you updated on who might accept. I must caution you, however, to be careful what you wish for!"

Bingley's smile brightened at the combination of Lizzy's understanding of his offer and her wit. "I wish for whatever will make my bride happy," he chirped. "Now, we must find you a room!"

Lizzy considered her options carefully. Her first instinct was to take the room directly across the mistress's chambers, but she knew Jane's priorities would change, as would hers. She and Jane would always be close, but she would no longer be Jane's primary confidante – that privilege would be transferred to Bingley. Lizzy settled on a room with a pleasing view that was nearly equidistant from those of Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.

"Well, Lizzy, I think those changes you suggested can be made in time for Easter," said Bingley after settling with Lizzy in a parlor. "I doubt you would object to Jane sharing your room for the holiday."

Lizzy laughed lightly. "Jane shall have my room all to herself, for I have agreed to go visit Charlotte."

Bingley grimaced. "Yes, what an unfortunate situation."

"I cannot like it," Lizzy admitted, "but I suppose I can understand it. I only wish Charlotte had a respectable way to live on her own."

Bingley picked uncomfortably at his nails. "Has Jane, perchance, talked to you about Caroline?"

Lizzy chose arching an eyebrow over answering.

"I've asked her several times what she would like done about Caroline. I'm not sure whether to reconcile with her or to cut her completely. Jane has evaded answering me as to her preference," Bingley said sourly.

Lizzy sighed as she thought. "I think," she said finally, "that Jane wants you to be at peace with whatever decision you make. When you do make up your mind, Charles, Jane will support you. Have no fear on that."

Bingley frowned for a moment, but then cleared his expression and asked if Lizzy wanted to play a card game to pass some time.

Darcy came at three in the afternoon. He greeted Bingley and engaged in a small amount of conversation before asking Elizabeth if she wished to go for a walk. She kept him in suspense for several moments before finally answering in the affirmative. She would be in his company the rest of the day one way or another, so she might as well get the uncomfortable topics out of the way quickly.

"I've spoken with Richard," Darcy said after a few minutes of walking in silence. "He assures me the aurors will consult you before setting any sort of guard. Should you choose to refuse their protection, they will abide by your decision."

Elizabeth kept her eyes on her shoes as she formulated a response. "I am glad to hear it."

"May I ask how you intend to answer them, if and when they send someone to speak to you?" Darcy asked. His voice sounded almost exactly the same as always, but Elizabeth thought she could detect a hint of anxiety.

"You want me to accept their protection," she stated, "have a guard."

"Much like your uncle, I wish for your safety," Darcy answered diplomatically.

"You're hiding behind that face again," Elizabeth said shrewdly.

"I am," Darcy shamelessly confirmed.

"I wish you wouldn't."

"Very well. I will speak plainly, but I do ask that you allow me to maintain my current facial expression," said Darcy. "I do not wish to alarm any passersby."

"I agree to this compromise," Elizabeth answered. She could easily remember the last time he had let his façade drop and how very powerful his emotion had been.

"I do very much hope you will accept the protection of the aurors," Darcy immediately said. "I have seen what Wickham's machinations have done to one important woman in my life, and I would not wish that any similar tragedy befall another."

Elizabeth blushed, but decided against saying anything in reply.

"I know you desire control over your own self," Darcy continued after a slight pause. "I respect that, truly. I will say only one thing more on the subject and then be silent about it. Would you rather give up _some_ of your control to aurors, who have your best interest in mind, or risk having _all _of your control stolen away from you by one of the worst villains imaginable?"

"Be careful not to speak too loudly, Mr. Darcy, or authors of novels will consider your description of Wickham as a challenge to be outdone in their next book," Elizabeth said smartly.

Darcy stared straight ahead and made no reply.

The smile Elizabeth had been sporting slipped from her face when Darcy did not react. She found herself confused by her own disappointment. "I will hear what the aurors propose, when they come," she said quietly after a moment.

Darcy looked down at Elizabeth. The corners of his mouth only slightly turned upward, but the light in his eyes spoke volumes. "Thank you."

Conversation turned to more benign matters, such as taste in literature and predictions for the upcoming term. Both participants of the walk thought the excursion had gone exceedingly well and were in good spirits upon returning to Bingley's.

Jane and Mrs. Hurst had returned from shopping, and so the entire house gathered to entertain each other. Mr. Hurst even made his way from the billiards room to participate, and Mary and Calliope came out of hiding.

Flitwick tumbled out of the fireplace just after seven and greeted everyone pleasantly, being sure to thank Bingley for allowing him to come through the floo network. After basic niceties had been observed, Flitwick guided his dueling students to a corner of the room.

"Well, Miss Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy," said Flitwick cheerily, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, "I have a proposition which I think you will find particularly appealing."

Elizabeth could feel Jane's concerned gaze from across the room, but made a point of not looking over. Bingley was seated with her and would surely keep her calm and as occupied as possible.

"What have you come to propose, Professor?" Darcy asked.

"There is an international competition for young duelers happening this year, in India," Flitwick answered. His eyes were alight with excitement. "I thought the pair of you might be interested in pursuing entering."

Elizabeth felt her lips spread into a grin of such caliber her face might tear in two. "An international competition?" she asked eagerly. "We would get to see styles of magic from various peoples across the world demonstrated?"

"By the best young practitioners, yes," Flitwick answered.

"And you think Miss Elizabeth and I could qualify for this competition?" Darcy asked, doubt infused into his voice.

Elizabeth felt a flare of anger and turned to glare at Darcy.

"I am speaking in terms of practicality and odds, not in doubt of your ability or mine," Darcy said flatly to Elizabeth, clearly determined not to be intimidated.

"I think each of you stands a good chance, yes," Flitwick answered. His eyes flicked between his dueling students with some amount of suspicion as he continued. "Each participating nation can bring four duelers. There is to be the first of several qualifying tournaments in two days. Assuming you agree, I will enroll you in London's. Dozens will come to participate, and many more so will come to observe."

"I am not able to use my wand off Hogwarts grounds yet, Professor," Elizabeth said dismally.

"I applied for a dispensation on your behalf several weeks ago," said Flitwick. "You were cleared for the tournament yesterday morning."

Elizabeth positively beamed. "I should very much like the chance to see other styles of magic practiced. I will be at the qualifying tournament."

"Excellent!" Flitwick exclaimed. "Mr. Darcy?"

"I will also attend," Darcy said, seeming to only be half present.

Flitwick expressed his pleasure several more times before taking his leave of the room at large, stepping into the fire, and disappearing.

"What has you so distracted, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked after watching him stare at the carpet in concentration for a full thirty seconds.

Darcy cleared his expression and allowed himself to smile at Elizabeth. "It is nothing," he said with all appearance of ease. "Let us join the rest of the party."

* * *

**Author's Note**

I hope you enjoyed the variety of character interactions in this chapter. I'm particularly curious what you thought of Lizzy and Bingley's conversation. Please consider sharing in a review.

Next chapter features some dueling! Woohoo!


	18. Chapter 18

To say that the Lord Augustus Fitzwilliam, Earl of Matlock, had been surprised when his nephew asked for his support at a dueling tournament would have been an understatement. Darcy had questions for Matlock frequently enough, but they were usually over business matters. To be asked to simply observe and encourage was something entirely foreign, and Matlock was very much looking forward to figuring out why such a request had been made.

With such thoughts running through his head, Lord Matlock cheerfully bid his wife and young niece goodbye, stepped into his garden, and disapparated.

"Uncle, thank you for agreeing to attend me today."

Matlock turned and smiled, not at all surprised that his nephew had arrived early. "I could hardly refuse the chance to see how you've been progressing under Filius's tutelage," he said as he shook Darcy's hand. "Do you intend to tell me, straight out, the reason you've _really_ invited me, or will I have to piece together small hints throughout the day?"

Darcy's face became nearly unreadable, but it only made Matlock laugh.

"I've known you since before you could walk, boy. You'll have to work a lot harder than that to evade my notice," Matlock declared. "As you wish, nephew. I shall observe all around me until I gather enough evidence to come to an educated conclusion. Shall we go in?"

Darcy grimaced. "I am not trying to evade your notice, Uncle."

"Of course not," said Matlock airily.

Uncle and nephew walked through a door next to a fencing club that many people passing by seemed to be completely unaware of. The small and unappealing entryway led into a massive, ornately decorated room with four large circles marked out and elevated seats surrounding them.

"Flitwick's told you how the day will go, I presume?" Matlock asked his nephew after handing off his cloak to a house elf.

"He has," Darcy answered. "Have you any advice you would be willing to share?"

Matlock was happy to spend the next half hour alternating between giving Darcy different pointers and introducing his nephew to various peers that milled about. Matlock had once been quite active in the dueling scene, but age and responsibilities had drawn him away from it. To spend a full day back in such an atmosphere was invigorating.

"Lord Matlock, what a pleasant surprise to see you!" squeaked a familiar voice. "I thought you had given up dueling for a pair of comfy chairs in the Wizengamot and Parliament!"

Matlock turned and smirked at Flitwick. "I felt it incumbent to come see if my nephew has been receiving adequate attention from you."

Flitwick grinned and offered his hand. "It is good to see you again."

"And you," said Matlock pleasantly. "Perhaps, once all these young bloods have had their fun, you might give me the chance to show my skills have not degraded so much as you think."

"Speaking of young bloods," said Flitwick, beginning to look around. "Where's Bennet gone?"

Matlock noticed Darcy's eyes widen slightly out of the corner of his own. So, Bennet was of import to his nephew…

A small young woman with bright eyes and a laugh lingering on her lips made her way forward. Both Flitwick and Darcy relaxed.

"I am so sorry, Professor!" said the woman. "I was distracted by seeing Zona. Curse breaking seems to suit her well, does it not? She is determined to extract a promise from me to join her after Hogwarts."

Matlock looked between the new arrival and his nephew only twice before beginning to repress a smirk. _This_ was the reason Darcy had asked him to come.

"Lord Matlock, allow me to present Miss Elizabeth Bennet," said Flitwick, gesturing to the girl that had addressed him. "She has been studying with me for nearly a year and a half now."

Elizabeth curtsied and expressed her pleasure to meet the earl.

"Bennet," said Matlock thoughtfully. Suspicions were beginning to form in his mind as to why Darcy had been so evasive earlier. "I don't know that I've ever heard that name."

"That is hardly surprising, sir," said Elizabeth. "My family's estate would be considered inconsequential in comparison to yours and is in Hertfordshire."

More gears clicked into place in Matlock's head. Hertfordshire was where Darcy had gone after settling Georgiana at Matlock House. "In Hertfordshire?" he said interestedly. "I have heard of it but rarely."

"We are a quiet sort of people," said Elizabeth.

Flitwick chuckled. "I hardly think you could describe yourself creditably as quiet, Miss Bennet!"

"Professor, you must allow me to have some small amount of dignity!" Elizabeth said. Her eyes were alight with joy at being able to tease her professor.

"Has your family attended Hogwarts of Beauxbatons?" Matlock asked.

At this, Elizabeth's manner became somewhat more cautious, but she did not shy away from the question. "My sisters and I have attended Hogwarts for all our schooling, my lord."

"And your father and your mother?" Matlock pressed.

"Neither attended any school for magic," Elizabeth answered. She raised her chin slightly, as if expecting a fight.

Months ago, Matlock might have dismissed the girl out of hand. He had been raised to value the purity of blood. The more ancient a person's bloodline, the better. The only thing that might be better than an impressive pedigree would be an impressive vault at Gringotts. His son's marriage, however, had shattered all such perceptions.

When the time came for Harland Fitzwilliam to find a wife, Lord and Lady Matlock had set about the task with expedience. After searching among those of their own circle, the Matlocks had suggested Adelia Malfoy to their oldest son. The young couple met only three times before agreeing to a wedding. Both sets of parents had been thrilled with the match.

Harland had hardly been back a month from his wedding tour when he declared to his parents that a marvelous mistake had been made. He and his bride did not suit at all. She was aloof, shallow, greedy, rude, and a whole host of other unflattering things. She did not have pleasant things to say about him, either. Despite encouragement from Lord and Lady Matlock to continue to work at the relationship, that respect could grow, Harland stated emphatically after only another two weeks that he would certainly _never_ produce an heir with Adelia Malfoy.

The bitterness and vitriol of their eldest son caused Lord and Lady Matlock to reconsider how they viewed the world. They were ashamed to realize they had cared more for the status and wealth gained from the marriage of their beloved child than whether that marriage would suit him. Their shame turned to agony as the weeks continued to pass. Harland had started drinking. Excessively. Adelia went to one remote estate and he retreated to another on the complete opposite side of the country not long after. Matlock lived every day with the fear that he would receive news of being cut by his son, or of his son's death. He only knew about Harland's continued deterioration thanks to the stealth and loyalty of well-placed servants.

Now, confronted by a lively young woman of an unimpressive background, Matlock found himself unwilling and unable to look down on her because of it. He was determined to learn from the mistakes he had made with his eldest. They would not be made again with Darcy or with Richard. He would judge Miss Elizabeth Bennet based on her personality, skill, and suitability to his nephew.

"Then I suppose it is hardly surprising I have not heard the name Bennet," said Matlock with an easy grin. Elizabeth's expression became less guarded when he did not become condescending. "You say your sisters have attended Hogwarts. What of your brothers?"

"I have none," Elizabeth answered. Mischief and challenge lit up her eyes as she drew herself up taller and, almost imperceptibly, squared her shoulders. "I am one of five daughters, born to a Squib and a Muggle, raised on an estate entailed away to a distant relative. Before Hogwarts, we had not received any formal schooling, nor the guidance of a governess."

Matlock simply stared in astonishment at the girl before him. He was well aware of the fact that Darcy was gritting his teeth and that his shoulders had tensed significantly. What pushed Matlock over the edge, however, was the arch look Elizabeth gave his nephew. At that, he burst into uproarious laughter.

"Tell me, Miss Bennet," said Matlock, wiping a tear of mirth from his eye, "what House were you put into?"

"Gryffindor, my lord," Elizabeth answered proudly.

"I thought as much," Matlock said with a nod. "I imagine you're rather one of Minerva's favorites, with your penchant for speaking so plainly! You just might even outdo her one day."

"I take that as a compliment."

"As well you should!" Matlock said enthusiastically. "There's hardly a woman I respect more than your Head of House!"

"I feel much the same, my lord," Elizabeth said, finally smiling again. She turned to Flitwick. "Is there any place in particular we are to sit?"

As the group began heading for seats, Matlock set his hand on the back of Darcy's neck and pulled him close. "If you let that girl go, Darcy, you're a fool of a man," he said lowly.

Tension melted from Darcy's countenance. "I have no intention of doing so, Uncle."

The first eight contestants were drawn at random and made their way into the dueling rings on the floor. Qualified witches and wizards set appropriate enchantments on the boundaries, clearly stated the expectations, and then made the call for the duels to begin.

Darcy and Elizabeth, seated a row in front of Matlock and Flitwick, quickly became entirely absorbed in studying their competition and sharing their observations with each other in hushed tones.

"Alright, Filius, tell me everything you know," Matlock said lowly, nodding toward his conversing nephew.

"Can you not guess for yourself at this point, Augustus?" Flitwick asked amusedly.

"I'd appreciate some observations from an inside source that isn't quite so green as my nephew," Matlock snorted.

Flitwick chuckled before providing an answer. "They had been at each other's throats since I met your nephew. They had some interaction with each other prior to Hogwarts, as I noticed you gathered."

"I know how to read the boy," Matlock said as confirmation.

"Things have changed over the holidays," said Flitwick. "That is all I know, truly."

Matlock sighed. "I'll set Richard onto him."

"And then you'll set into Richard," said Flitwick knowingly.

"That is a distinct possibility," Matlock admitted. He applauded appropriately as the last of the first round of duels came to a close.

Elizabeth was called in the next round. She received the well wishes of Matlock, Darcy, and Flitwick before lightly making her way down to the floor. Matlock could see that her opponent was not taking her seriously, likely due to her small size and the fact that she was smiling pleasantly at him. Though Matlock had yet to see the girl use her wand, he already pitied the poor sod across her.

Elizabeth's first round was over within a minute. Her opponent retreated to his seat looking properly humbled, grabbed his things and his sponsor, and left.

"Who typically wins between the two of you, Darcy?" Matlock asked his nephew.

"Whoever makes the first mistake, usually," Darcy answered without turning to show his face.

Matlock raised his brows from a combination of being impressed and surprised. He was familiar with Darcy's dueling capabilities, had been his first instructor, in fact. That Elizabeth not only kept up with but sometimes bested Darcy said a great deal of her.

"Well fought, Bennet," Flitwick said when the girl returned to her seat.

"It was hardly a fight, Professor," Elizabeth said shortly. "Hopefully, my next opponent will present a decent challenge."

Darcy was called for the next round. Much like Elizabeth, his duel was short. His win, however, was due to skill and not to being underestimated. Afterall, it was difficult to underestimate a man of Darcy's stature.

The next few hours were spent alternating between observation and discussion of the participants and the competition. Matlock found himself increasingly impressed with Elizabeth and began formulating ideas as to how to increase her status in both worlds in which she lived. Marriage to Darcy would certainly accomplish that, but Matlock thought she might not be satisfied with that being the reason for her elevation. The way Darcy looked at and spoke to her made Matlock think that, though Darcy would be thrilled to have her for a wife, he also would not be happy unless she was respected for her own self, first.

Matlock's path became suddenly clear to him as he watched a pair of young witches twirling about each other. He, for all his wealth and influence, could not handle how people might react to and esteem Elizabeth nearly so well as his wife would be able to.

"You know, Filius," said Matlock almost casually as it was announced that the first level of the tournament was over, "Diana would enjoy the chance to see you, also."

"Oh?" Flitwick asked. "Does Lady Matlock still enjoy hearing tales of you being properly humbled in duels?"

Matlock chuckled. "She does like it when others help to keep me in line. She gets tired of it, you know. You must come to dinner, and soon."

Flitwick smirked at Matlock with a knowing glint in his eyes. "When were you thinking, Augustus?"

"Tonight, even, if it suits you," Matlock answered, choosing to feign ignorance.

"I'm afraid I have promised Miss Bennet's aunt and uncle that I would have her back at Gracechurch Street immediately following her last duel," said Flitwick with a slight, pompous waggle of his head.

Matlock narrowed his eyes at Flitwick slightly, knowing full well what the man was about. Flitwick knew of Matlock's past folly in regards to belief in what made a person worthy of note, and was now determined not to make it easy for Matlock to gain access to Elizabeth. If Matlock wanted her to become better acquainted with his family, he would have to work at it.

"Perhaps tomorrow then," Matlock offered. His plan to 'just happen' to invite Elizabeth to accompany her mentor to dinner after the duel having fallen through, he had to adjust strategy. It would only be natural for much of conversation at a dinner with Flitwick to revolve around dueling and, having spent a day observing two of his students, Elizabeth's name would have to be mentioned frequently. Lady Diana Matlock would certainly become interested in meeting the young woman and demand that Flitwick come to another dinner and bring his protégée along.

"I will have to double check what my duties are at Hogwarts tomorrow before I commit," said Flitwick a little too lightly. "I will inform you of whether or not I shall be able to attend by lunch."

Elizabeth and Darcy made it through the second level of the tournament nearly as easily as they had the first. The third level, with just twenty competitors remaining, might just present their first challenge. The four dueling circles on the floor were exchanged for just one.

Darcy was called first, pitted against a girl with her long blond hair thrown back in a large braid. He and Elizabeth had already identified the braid as a possible weakness of the girl. It could easily get caught on something, wrap around her throat, or temporarily obscure her vision as she turned.

"Do try not to _purposefully _use her hair against her," Elizabeth said as Darcy rose.

"I shall not use her lack of wise decisions in hair styling against her, Miss Bennet," Darcy promised, "though she would do well to take a lesson from you on that front. A young lady displaying the quality of her hair is quite understandable, and often effective, but a tournament such as this is not the time." He looked pointedly at the tight bun in which Elizabeth had set her locks before descending to take his place in the ring.

"Have you any light to shed on my nephew's rather strong opinions of a lady's hairstyle?" Matlock asked lowly and with great spirit.

"I do believe a certain brunette of interest had her hair almost completely loose when last I saw her," Flitwick said with barely contained mirth. "Tell me, Augustus, is it you that has instructed him in how to pay compliments? If so, I must say you are a wretched teacher!"

"Professor, what do you think is at her wand's core?" Elizabeth asked, turning to her mentor while gesturing at the dueling circle. "It doesn't behave quite like any wand I've seen."

Flitwick watched Darcy's opponent carefully as the duel began. "Ah, I think her core might just be thestral hair," he said. "Ollivander doesn't use it, but many wandmakers further east do."

"Curious," Elizabeth said, turning back to the duel. "I think I should like to know more about other cores, Professor."

"Such information will surely be useful if you continue to progress in this competition," said Flitwick.

The blonde girl was certainly an accomplished duelist but, as Elizbeth and Darcy had thought, her poor choice in style put her at a disadvantage. The girl executed a quick turn that temporarily put her braid in her line of sight, which allowed Darcy just enough time to land a Stunner. The girl was revived quickly, shook hands with Darcy, and sat with her sponsor to observe the rest of the tournament. She took her loss graciously, but made sure she would not lose the same way again by using a severing charm on her braid.

"That's very dedicated," said Elizabeth as the girl tossed her detached plait over her shoulder. "The look suits her, I think."

"Perhaps," said Darcy, retaking his seat, "but it was completely unnecessary."

Elizabeth watched the girl shake her drastically shortened locks, thoroughly entranced. "You might not appreciate it, Mr. Darcy, but I cannot help but think how much time and bother that girl has just saved herself. I find I am rather envious of her."

Matlock fell into a coughing fit to cover his laughter as Darcy looked both horrified and intensely concerned, his gaze alternating between Elizabeth's hair and his defeated opponent's.

Several more duels progressed. Comments and questions from Elizabeth and Darcy stopped almost entirely. There was only to be one more level of the tournament. They needed to know all they possibly could about the styles and capabilities of their remaining contenders.

Elizabeth was called in the last round of the third level to compete against a completely average looking boy, though he had done quite well in his previous duels.

Matlock had noticed Elizabeth's competition had been distracted by her all day and seemed rather flushed about the face at present. He could not resist the opportunity to provoke his nephew. "Considering how distracted that young lad is with Miss Bennet, I rather think this will be a short round."

"I think you are correct, Uncle," said Darcy through his teeth. "I only hope Miss Bennet will get to fight another woman in the next round. I should hate for people to think she made it this far on her looks rather than her skill."

"Somehow, I doubt people will think that," said Matlock as the duel ended. With a flourish of her wand, Elizabeth had propelled her opponent through the air until he landed flat on his back and, while he struggled to regain his breath, set her foot on his wrist and plucked his wand from his hand.

"And now things truly become interesting," said Matlock while rubbing his hands together. The overseers of the event had gathered in the dueling circle. The last level of the tournament would not be random, so some discussion was required as to who would be paired.

"If they pair us, Mr. Darcy, I expect your very best effort," said Elizabeth sternly.

"I will not hold back, Miss Bennet," Darcy assured, "but I do hope they do not pair us. That way we can both go through to the next qualifying round."

Darcy got his wish. He was set against a young man that had displayed marvelous footwork throughout the day. Elizabeth, much to her disappointment, was pitted against her friend Zona.

"Oh, I do not want to fight Zona!" Elizabeth said unhappily when the announcement was made. "She is twenty! She will have reached her majority before she has another opportunity to enter this competition! I don't want to take this from her."

"You are not planning on throwing the duel, are you, Bennet?" Flitwick asked with furrowed brows.

"No!" Elizabeth objected. "I just – I don't want – "

"If Zona were to go easy on you, simply because you are friends, and you won because of it, you would be furious," said Flitwick. He was being uncharacteristically harsh. "Respect the competition, Bennet. Only one of you can win, and so whoever goes on ought to be whoever is more skilled."

Elizabeth sighed, then nodded. "You are right, Professor. We both deserve an honest duel where we each give our full effort. May the best woman win."

"She will," said Darcy almost inaudibly.

Darcy's duel was third in the lineup. Matlock thought his nephew was finally having to exert himself to assure victory, and was well pleased for it. Darcy's first three duels had been rather unremarkable. Matlock liked the look of concentration upon his nephew's face, the automatic reactions, the control exhibited. Darcy could go very far in the competition, indeed.

When Darcy stood with two wands, the crowd applauded. He shook hands with his opponent, who took the loss gracefully, exchanged a few words, and returned to his seat.

"Well done, Darcy," said Matlock, slapping his nephew's shoulder.

"What were you two talking about?" Elizabeth asked curiously.

"He and I simply shared weaknesses we had noticed in each other," said Darcy. His eyes shone brightly from the fight, and he looked very well. "I should like to duel him again, I think. Havers is his name, he said."

"Yes, Nathan Havers," said Elizabeth. "He only just graduated Hogwarts last year. Hufflepuff. Friendly fellow, though I never did get to know him well. He's training at St. Mungo's, if I remember correctly."

Matlock counted Elizabeth's excellent memory for people as another point in her favor.

Elizabeth's duel against Zona was the last of the day. Whoever won would join the four already slotted for a second qualifying tournament.

"Remember, Bennet," Flitwick began as Elizabeth rose from her seat.

"No pity, Professor, only an honest fight," said Elizabeth resolutely.

Once both in the dueling circle, Elizabeth and Zona exchanged a few words, kissed each other on the cheek, then took their proper places. No one watching could doubt the affection between the pair, nor could anyone believe either would go easy on the other.

Matlock thought it lucky this was the last duel of the day, for no other one could possibly compete in terms of skill displayed and entertainment value. Both women were exceptionally accomplished and very well matched. The entirety of the duel was done with nonverbal spells. The crowd saw fire, water, conjured and transfigured objects, an impressive spectrum of color, and very fine footwork.

Matlock heard Darcy's breath hitch as Zona drove her wand into the ground, throwing Elizabeth backward. To his side, Flitwick urged Elizabeth to get up under his breath.

Zona, as any competent dueler would do, pressed her advantage and sent a flurry of spells toward Elizabeth, who barely managed to get a Shield Charm up in time. Elizabeth regained her feet, but she was very close to the boundary of the ring. If she stepped outside, she would lose. The young woman kept her defenses up a few moments longer, then dove toward Zona's right, tumbling as she did so and quickly popping back upright. Zona turned rapidly and, as she was getting her bearings, failed to protect herself against Elizabeth's Disarming Charm.

The crowd roared with appreciation as Elizabeth was declared the winner of the duel. She and Zona parted with smiles, though Zona was clearly disappointed, and the crowd began to clear.

Matlock looked to his nephew to see longing and pride mixed together. When Elizabeth glanced over, however, Darcy quickly school his expression, causing his uncle to sigh. He was determined to get to the bottom of all this, not only for Darcy, but because he decided he rather liked Elizabeth Bennet and was interested to see what would become of her.

* * *

Lizzy spent the next two days floating on air. She knew there was still a long way to go, but she was thrilled to pieces that she was on her way toward getting to interact with practitioners of various kinds of magic from all corners of the world. She had long been interested in the practices of different cultures, but did not think she would ever get an opportunity to experience it. Travel was expensive, and she did not think that expense was something she would ever be able to spare between caring for her sisters and caring for her mother. The competition, which Flitwick had privately assured her would not cost her a single knut because the Ministry would sponsor whoever qualified, was the perfect opportunity.

"You have not been in such good spirits since you came, Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner observed. "I'm so very pleased to see you like this. You had been worrying me."

"While my old problems have not gone away, I find I am much better able to process them after a few good duels," Lizzy said cheerfully. "Thank you for your concern of me, Aunt, but I shall be well. I promise!"

Mrs. Gardiner was not able to express anything more as her children spilled into the room and demanded Lizzy's attention.

"Can we go to the park, Lizzy?" asked Irene while tugging on her cousin's sleeve. "We want to see our kittens!"

"You will not be going to the park," Mrs. Gardiner said with finality and a stern look at Lizzy.

Lizzy pursed her lips briefly. A representative from the aurors had stopped by the morning after the dueling tournament to discuss options. Lizzy and her aunt and uncle had chosen not to take a full-time guard, but an auror did check by the house at least three times daily. Much though she had not wanted to, Lizzy had bent to the demand of her relatives and the aurors and promised to stay on family property unless accompanied by her aunt or uncle.

Mrs. Gardiner was impervious to the whining of her children, and eventually gave them an ultimatum: be satisfied with amusing themselves in the house or spend the rest of their day doing extra lessons over their least favorite topics. Lizzy's cousins had made themselves scarce after that.

"I should hate to put you back out of spirits, Lizzy, but I have to ask you what you plan to do to address your old problems that have not gone away," Mrs. Gardiner said after several minutes of silence while she and her niece pursued their own interests.

Lizzy sighed heavily and closed the large book in her lap. "I should think that, if I ignore them long enough, the problems will simply fade out of existence," she said with a mischievous smirk.

"Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner chastised. "These are not matters to take lightly!"

"Can I not just be allowed a few days in peace?" Lizzy asked harshly. She rose quickly from where she had been reading and curled herself up in the window seat.

"Unfortunately not," Mrs. Gardiner said with a perfect mixture of firmness and kindness. "You return to Hogwarts in a mere three days, my dear. I think your time there would be much happier if you came to terms with your situation before then."

Lizzy huffed and stared resolutely out the window.

"On the subject of Mr. Darcy, I will not press you," said Mrs. Gardiner. She took up her needlework again, allowing her niece the continued privilege of hiding her face. "The pair of you have clearly come to understand each other better. I have no expectations one way or another, and will support you in whatever decision you make, when the time comes. You have a good head on your shoulders, Lizzy. Just remember all you have come to realize these past weeks."

Lizzy continued to face the street, but some tension left her shoulders and she hastily brought a hand to her face.

"As for Wickham," Mrs. Gardiner continued, her eyes flicking from her sewing to her niece and back again, "I believe you will be safe from him at Hogwarts. Between your own skill, your friends, and your professors, it is highly unlikely you will come to harm. Do be cautious in Hogsmeade, though. And we shall discuss your intent to go into Kent closer to the time."

"The excursion to Kent is one I could easily forgo, as you are well aware," Lizzy said with a bitter laugh.

"And yet you will fight when it is suggested you abandon the trip," Mrs. Gardiner came back with. "There is no use denying it, Lizzy. We both know I speak the truth.

"Now, your parents."

"I don't want – "

"The world does not revolve around your wants, Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner said somewhat harshly. "You have to consider your sisters in this, especially Kitty and Lydia."

"Mr. Bingley has offered to take us on once he and Jane are married," said Lizzy.

"The girls need their parents, Lizzy."

"Why?" Lizzy asked acidly. "Jane, Mary, and I have overseen them better these past months than my mother and father ever did. You have not gotten to see them, Aunt, but they are truly becoming young witches worthy of notice."

"You are their sister, Lizzy, not their mother," Mrs. Gardiner insisted.

"Their mother only sees them as a way to secure her own future!" Lizzy snarled. She vaulted out of her seat and stood with her fists clenched. "_I_ care about their happiness as well as their security, and I can see to both!" If she had been called to explain how it was that she could defend her parents when they were condemned by Darcy, yet become enraged when Mrs. Gardiner suggested mending the break, Lizzy would have been completely flummoxed. She was made even more upset by recognition of the dichotomy.

"It is not your burden to take on," said Mrs. Gardiner resolutely. "I have no doubt you could do the office considerable justice, but, Lizzy, think of how it is distressing you so that you feel rejected. Would you have Kitty and Lydia feel the same?"

"What would you have me do?" Lizzy asked irritably, crossing her arms firmly over her chest. "I am not the one that was being unreasonable, therefore I am not the one that needs to take the first step in resolving this mess."

Mrs. Gardiner sighed, and would have responded, had not the maid popped in to announce Lady Diana Fitzwilliam, Countess of Matlock.

Lizzy and Mrs. Gardiner exchanged wide-eyed glances before the older woman told the maid to show the lady in.

"Well, I hope you will forgive me for not standing on Muggle ceremony and insisting on a formal introduction," said a well-dressed woman, announced to be Lady Matlock, as she entered the parlor. "I find all the pomp and circumstance to be far too troublesome, sometimes.

"Your maid has been so kind as to tell you who I am, and I'm sure you will hardly be surprised to find I know your names."

Mrs. Gardiner recovered from her initial shock over the lack of formality quickly and offered Lady Matlock a seat. "To what do my niece and I owe the honor of your visit, my lady?"

Lizzy sat next to her aunt and regarded the lady across her carefully. She could not believe it a coincidence she had met Darcy's uncle and aunt in such quick succession. Part of her wanted to be irritated that he was orchestrating her introduction to his family without seeing if she even desired as much, and part of her was flattered that he was letting them see her as just plain Lizzy Bennet, without any other sort of attachments to her person.

"Curiosity is my main motivation, I confess," said Lady Matlock. "My husband and I had a guest to dinner last night, Filius Flitwick. In the course of the conversation of the tournament, plus Flitwick's extra commentary regarding your schooling, I became simply fascinated and entirely determined to meet you, Miss Bennet."

Lizzy's face went blank and she blinked rapidly for several moments. "I confess I do not know how to respond to such a statement."

"Have I rendered you speechless, Miss Bennet?" Lady Matlock asked with an elegantly arched brow. "I've been led to believe that is quite a feat."

Lizzy felt herself blush. She blinked one last time and sat up straighter, determined not to be intimidated. Lady Matlock could be as curious as she so wished. Lizzy would not allow the woman to unsettle her. "Yes, my silence does not make an appearance so much as some would like," she said cheekily.

"Lizzy," Mrs. Gardiner breathed out of the corner of her mouth as Lady Matlock smiled.

"I shall be content with my victory, then," said Lady Matlock. "Tell me, Miss Bennet, how did you come to be so interested in dueling?"

Lizzy had only a hazy idea of how the next fifteen minutes passed. By the time Lady Matlock rose to leave, she found she had agreed to attend the opera, but had no recollection of doing such.

"I quite look forward to the adventure, Miss Bennet, and am glad you are willing to come on such short notice. I have no daughters, and my nieces are hardly able to attend such social functions," said Lady Matlock, dawning her cloak. "It will be refreshing, indeed, to be with such a young woman as yourself, who, I am quite certain, expects nothing of me. I shall return to gather you in just a few hours!"

Lizzy stared at the closed parlor door for several seconds, then turned to her aunt and mutely pointed to where Lady Matlock had just gone out.

"Who can account for the whims of the wealthy?" Mrs. Gardiner asked with a laugh. "Come, my dear. Let us find you something suitable to wear for the evening."

"I don't remember her asking me to attend her," Lizzy said as her aunt pushed her up the stairs.

"That hardly surprises me," said Mrs. Gardiner. "She seems a very efficient woman, and quite competent at managing conversations. Perhaps you have met your match, Lizzy."

"But why should she single me out so?"

Mrs. Gardiner rolled her eyes. "For such an intelligent woman, Lizzy, you can be so dreadfully slow at times."

* * *

"You simply must come back to Matlock House, my dear, for I am eager to continue this conversation," Lady Matlock declared as she and Lizzy climbed into her carriage.

Lizzy grinned at Lady Matlock, feeling quite at ease. Lady Matlock had talked freely with her all evening, introduced her to various friends and acquaintances, and, best of all, been truly interested in the opera performance. Lizzy had half expected Lady Matlock only to be attending to see and be seen by others and had been much gratified when the woman ceased conversation and devoted attention to the stage. She found she quite enjoyed Lady Matlock's company.

"I am at your disposal, my lady," Lizzy said smoothly. "After all, I am dependent on you for transportation."

Lady Matlock flashed a great smile. "I am glad to find you so reasonable, Miss Bennet. As soon as we arrive at the house, you shall send word to your aunt and uncle. Who knows, I may even have to keep you overnight!"

Lizzy laughed lightly, then suddenly sobered. "Unfortunately, such may not be possible, my lady." She looked up and pursed her lips as she considered how to phrase her situation. "I am currently the object of the caution of the aurors. They believe someone they are tracking may try to find me." Lizzy felt herself blush violently and turned her gaze firmly to her gloved hands.

"I did not marry such an influential man for inconsequential reasons," said Lady Matlock with an unconcerned wave of her hand. "Lord Matlock is perfectly capable of negotiating with the aurors, and he likes to keep me happy, so I shall have my way in this instance."

Lizzy felt her smile creep across her face again. "If you are so determined, my lady, I will not argue."

"Smart girl," said Lady Matlock.

"However," Lizzy continued, her eyes lighting with mischief, "I think there are those that might dare to call you foolish for taking on someone, such as myself, that could bring the most dastardly of criminals to your door."

"Oh, I know well the kind that would call me a fool for doing such, and I am confident in my ability to handle them," said Lady Matlock unconcernedly. "As for some criminal possibly following you to Matlock House, I should like to see them escape the likes of my husband or son. It is rather late already, and neither of them like to be bothered much after dinner."

"Your son is home?" Lizzy asked somewhat anxiously.

"Ah, yes, I've heard you've met Richard," said Lady Matlock as the carriage rolled to a stop. "I do so hope he has behaved himself well enough to represent my rearing of him well. If not, you must tell me so I may scold him most thoroughly."

Lizzy laughed in spite of the knot she felt forming in her stomach. Darcy had said that Fitzwilliam was his most trusted confidante. Surely he would know the whole of Lizzy's dealings with Darcy. Lizzy did not much like the idea of being in the major's company, presently. "He has been a perfect gentleman, my lady."

Lizzy followed Lady Matlock into the house, handed her cloak off, and followed the lady into a parlor. When given supplies to do so, she quickly penned a note to her relatives stating, at Lady Matlock's insistence, that she would stay the night at Matlock House and be returned before lunch on the morrow.

"Miss Bennet, how good it is to see you again!" said Lord Matlock jovially, entering the parlor nearly half an hour after the ladies' arrival.

"I feel the same way about you, Lord Matlock," Lizzy said genuinely.

"Did I hear the name Bennet?" asked a familiar voice.

Major Richard Fitzwilliam stepped into the room, a familiar little blonde girl perched on his shoulders. "You aren't being held against your will by my mother, Miss Bennet, are you?"

Lizzy laughed and assured Fitzwilliam she was pleased to be where she was. Though she dearly wished to ask after Georgiana, she believed it would be best to pretend she had never had any interaction with the girl, as she had no idea what Darcy had told his family.

Lady Matlock looked concernedly at her niece on her son's shoulders, but held conversation well enough. All talking ceased, however, when Fitzwilliam put Georgiana down and the girl made a straight line to Lizzy.

"Hello," Lizzy said pleasantly to the little girl standing directly in front of her. She felt rather awkward, as all other noise in the room had ceased. The fire itself seemed to have silenced.

Georgiana stared at Lizzy a few moments longer before reaching her hand out and putting it on Lizzy's collarbone.

Lizzy smiled and began taking slow, conscious breaths, which caused Georgiana to grin sheepishly.

"Georgiana, have you met Miss Bennet before?" Lady Matlock asked.

Georgiana nodded delightedly, then grabbed Lizzy's hand and began pulling her out of her seat.

Lizzy saw, from the corner of her eye, the Matlocks and their son exchange wide-eyed glances before Lady Matlock nearly rocketed from her seat to quickly follow wherever Georgiana was leading.

"Where are you taking me, Miss Darcy?" Lizzy asked. "I fear your cousin will be absolutely crushed by your abandonment of him."

Georgiana turned her head slightly to show Lizzy a very shrewd face, considering the girl was only six, before beginning to mount a set of stairs.

"Oh, I don't think we should – "

"It is quite alright, Miss Bennet," said Lady Matlock quietly from several steps behind. "I would have you continue wherever my niece is leading."

Swallowing uncomfortably, Lizzy began climbing the plush stairs behind Georgiana. The girl next took her into the family wing, then reached up and opened a door that led to what simply had to be her own private chambers.

Lizzy looked around the room and schooled her expression as best she could to keep from showing any of the awe that she felt. The room was absolutely exquisite, containing high-quality furniture, though it was not at all ostentatious. The coloring suited a young girl perfectly, and it was clear that anything Georgiana required or desired was provided for her. Lizzy felt a slight pang of jealousy and longing; Georgiana was obviously well loved and cared for.

"You have a beautiful room, Miss Darcy," Lizzy said after a moment.

Georgiana flashed a smile, then pulled Lizzy over to a corner and gestured proudly to a basket.

Lizzy laughed as she recognized the kittens from the park, complete with their mother, curled up on a plush cushion. "So you have some new friends, do you?"

Georgiana nodded enthusiastically, then reached in and pulled out a kitten with bold stripes and held it out to Lizzy.

"This is certainly a handsome fellow," Lizzy praised. "His mama must be very proud of how he turned out." She stroked the kitten several times, smiling as she felt the soft fur and the slight purr her ministrations caused, then held the kitten back out to Georgiana.

Georgiana shook her head and pushed the kitten back toward Lizzy's chest.

"She has been paying particularly close attention to that one," said Lady Matlock. When she turned to look, Lizzy was shocked to see tears had welled in the lady's eyes. "I believe she wants you to have it."

Lizzy whipped back around to see Georgiana nodding and clapping her hands in excitement. She felt her heart swell and grinned before going to her knees and saying warmly, "That is very kind of you, Miss Darcy, and I am honored."

"Georgiana," the girl said, then blushed a brilliant red from the effort.

Lizzy started slightly, but recovered quickly. "I should very much like to take you up on your offer, Georgiana." The girl positively beamed at being addressed in such a way. "However, I do not think this little one is quite ready to be separated from his mama yet. Would you be willing to look after him a bit longer for me? Perhaps, when I next visit my aunt and uncle, I can come collect him."

Georgiana looked between the kitten and its mother a few times before gently plucking the kitten from Lizzy's hand to return it to where its siblings lay.

Before long, Georgiana became utterly engrossed with playing with the kittens and seemed to forget there were others in her room. Lady Matlock tapped Lizzy's shoulder, then led her out into the hallway.

"I don't know what it is you've done for my niece, Miss Bennet," said Lady Matlock, her voice thick with emotion, "but I thank you very much. I did not know it was possible for her to interact with those not in her family in such a fashion anymore. She has – She has been through some difficulties that have made her painfully shy. I do not even know all the details."

Lizzy looked down at her hands, lest she accidentally let Lady Matlock know she was fully aware of what Georgiana had been through.

Lady Matlock reached out suddenly and grabbed Lizzy's hands, demanding her full attention. "Please, Miss Bennet, promise me that you will come see Georgiana whenever you are in town. It inspires such hope in me to see her this way."

"I will," Lizzy said breathlessly.

Lady Matlock's face became brilliant, and she twined her arm with Lizzy's. "Now, Miss Bennet, you must come back below stairs with me and give me a full accounting of how my son handles himself among strangers."

Lizzy laughed and allowed herself to be led away.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Longest chapter so far! Whew!

I hope you enjoyed meeting the Matlocks. Consider letting me know your impressions of them and the dueling in a review. Have a good week!


	19. Chapter 19

Darcy looked out his carriage window. Though his face was largely blank, his eyes swirled with a host of emotions as he gazed at the clouds without truly seeing them.

"What are you thinking of, Darcy?" Bingley asked after several minutes of observing his friend.

The light playing in Darcy's eyes diminished as he came back to reality. "Nothing of consequence, Bingley."

Bingley raised his eyebrows to show his disbelief. "I shall let you have that, for now. My curiosity on another matter is more pressing."

"What other matter could that be?" Darcy asked, picking a bit of lint off his school robes. He was determined to show himself at his very best for his return. He had not seen Elizabeth since the tournament, though he had heard of her often enough. After learning the mortifying news that his aunt had practically kidnapped Elizabeth, he thought she might appreciate some space from him. His family could not say enough good things about her, and the tale of just how much Georgiana had taken to her warmed his heart. He was more anxious than before to win her over.

"What the devil happened your last day in Hertfordshire?" Bingley asked pointedly.

Darcy sighed heavily and rubbed a hand down his face. Life would have been greatly simplified if Jane had told Bingley all. Darcy was sure Elizabeth had told her sister everything the night the professors had shown up at dinner.

"You promised you would tell me everything," said Bingley firmly, "and I intend to hold you to it."

Darcy felt a good deal of pride to see Bingley standing up for himself. "I did promise," he said heavily, and then told Bingley all. How he had first felt attracted to Elizabeth when they came to Netherfield in the summer. How he had become increasingly frustrated in the first weeks of school, seeing Elizabeth everywhere. How he had desperately tried to convince himself not to want her. How he had finally given up fighting. How he had come to love her. How he had told her so. How he had felt absolutely shattered at being rejected by her. How he was determined to learn from his mistakes and become the man she desired and deserved. Asked for Bingley's help.

Bingley simply stared at Darcy for several minutes as he processed all he had just heard. "Well you've made a marvelous mess of all this," he said finally.

"I most heartily agree," said Darcy. "Are you willing to help me sort everything out?"

"I will support you," said Bingley carefully, "but to have me do any of the heavy lifting would be cheating, I think."

Darcy gave a hollow laugh. "That's only fair, I suppose," he admitted before turning his gaze back to the window.

"I do hope you're successful," said Bingley after a few moments of silence. "I should like for us to be brothers."

"Well, I suppose that's a trade I'd be willing to make if it meant having Elizabeth at my side," said Darcy with a slight twitch of his lip.

Bingley laughed freely and went about teasing Darcy whenever the opportunity presented itself for the duration of their travels.

* * *

"How pleasant to be back again!" Lizzy said joyfully as she, Jane, Mary, and Calliope tumbled out of Piper's carriage. They had been offered spots in Darcy's carriage, but Jane had insisted she would prefer to honor the tradition of traveling in Piper's with her sisters.

Jane flicked her wand at their luggage, sending it off, while Lizzy paid Piper for his services, then the witches set out toward the castle.

"London was perfectly pleasant," said Jane, "but I will own that I am happy to be back at Hogwarts."

Lizzy kept her opinions of London to herself. The entire time she had been in the city, her emotions had raced from one extreme to the other, and she felt no remorse at leaving the place behind for the ever-welcome comforts of Hogwarts.

"Are you prepared for everyone to fawn over you, Jane?" Mary asked.

Jane blushed prettily and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear with her left hand, causing the waning sunlight to glint off the ring on her finger. "I am determined to be as I ever was, Mary. I do not want the praises of others. I only want to learn, and to become Mrs. Bingley when the time is right."

"Your becoming Mrs. Bingley will be a topic of great interest to many, I would imagine," said Lizzy lightly. "On that score, you will be able to find plenty of conversation partners."

"Stop it, Lizzy," Jane chided, becoming even redder.

Lizzy laughed before taking her sister's arm.

"Don't think you'll be left alone, Lizzy," Mary suggested. "I imagine your latest acquaintance will earn you quite a bit of attention."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "If I am suddenly found interesting by new people simply because of my association with Lady Matlock, I shall certainly endeavor to avoid further interaction with those flobberworms!"

Calliope's eyes suddenly brightened. "Wouldn't it be fascinating to see the world as a flobberworm?" she asked. "What if that was your animagus form, Lizzy?"

Lizzy grimaced. "I would be deeply disappointed if all my time and effort was spent only to be able to take on the form of a flobberworm. I might quit magic entirely."

Calliope, undeterred, began expounding of the virtues of flobberworms. Lizzy exchanged a sideways glance with Jane and feigned interest, forcing herself to stifle several bouts of laughter, all the way into the Great Hall.

"Lizzy!" cried a joyous voice.

Lizzy let out an involuntary "oof" as Lydia ran at her, wrapping her in a hug.

"You will be so very jealous when I tell you of all the fun Kitty and I had with the Longbottoms!" Lydia gushed. "We went to Diagon Alley nearly every other day! _And_ we saw a unicorn! Kitty thinks she saw a kelpie underneath a layer of ice at one point, but I think she was imagining it."

Lizzy felt her heart swell with pleasure as Lydia continued to prattle on about perfectly innocent things. Time spent under the care of the ever-attentive Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom with other young girls interested in the simple joys of life had done a great deal of good for her youngest sister. Lizzy did not take any of it for granted. Had they stayed at Longbourn, Lydia may very well have been dragged back to her former frame of mind, whining and carrying on about not yet being out in society or allowed to have any fun and flirt.

With sudden clarity, Lizzy realized Lydia had never learned how to _enjoy_ _being a child_; she had always been indoctrinated with the habits of those older than her, either by the explicit instruction of Mrs. Bennet or the example of the women of Meryton. At Hogwarts, however, Lydia was surrounded by children her own age that were allowed to act as such, rather than be concerned with the necessity of snagging a rich, attractive husband.

For the first time in several weeks, all five of the Bennet girls sat together for a meal. Lizzy was pleased that, when he came in, Bingley only stopped long enough to say hello to Lydia and Kitty and kiss Jane's hand before going over to sit with other friends. That he respected their sacred time as sisters was greatly appreciated.

"…and Hattie said it was quite the best game of Exploding Snap she had ever played!" Kitty declared gleefully, finishing yet another story of her time spent on break.

"Oh, Lord, look who's returned," Lydia muttered, nodding her head toward the door of the Great Hall.

Lizzy looked where Lydia had indicated to see Caroline Bingley. The girl stood tall as ever, her nose slightly upturned, wrapped in an expensive-looking cloak that did not flatter her at all.

Jane sighed heavily and pursed her lips.

"Go, Jane," said Mary. "We will not be offended. He's to be your husband and our brother, after all."

Jane smiled briefly at Mary and glanced at her sisters for confirmation before rising and going to Bingley's side.

"I do _not_ envy Jane for her future with _that_ as a sister," Lydia snorted.

"She'll be our sister, as well," Kitty grumbled.

"So she will be," said Lizzy. Detest Caroline though she may, Lizzy was determined not to make things any more difficult for Jane than necessary by encouraging strife. "We shall have to learn how to handle Miss Caroline Bingley. Between the lot of us, I think we just might manage."

Lydia and Kitty both grimaced but said nothing more on the subject.

* * *

"Well, go on, then!" Josephine cried later that night, tucked away in their dormitory. "Tell us everything!"

"You were _there_ the night Jane's announcement was made, Jo," said Lizzy with a roll of her eyes. "What more could you want to know?"

"How your mother cried for your forgiveness after booting you from the house, for one," said Phoebe shrewdly.

"I haven't had a word from my mother or my father since leaving Longbourn," Lizzy said flatly. She made a fuss of pulling some things out of her trunk to allow Josephine and Phoebe to exchange a look. Upon arriving at the Gardiners', she had removed the mud that had gathered on her luggage, thought the scarring remained.

"Well, then, tell us what news Charlotte has given you," said Phoebe, propping her elbows on her knees and putting her chin into her hands.

"Yes, do!" Josephine seconded. "I will insist on adding a few lines to each of the letters you send her from now on."

Lizzy smiled mischievously, deciding to have fun with the news rather than be annoyed with it. "Oh, I don't think Charlotte will have much time for writing. She is married by now, and has a new and very attentive neighbor."

Josephine and Phoebe both burst out with questions at the same time. Lizzy basked in their desperate curiosity for a few moments before shushing them.

"Charlotte is, by now, Mrs. Collins, installed at Hunsford and receiving much condescension from the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh."

Ringing silence settled for a few seconds until Phoebe shrieked, "_What?_"

Lizzy allowed herself to laugh at the expressions on her friends' faces before repeating the news.

"No, Lizzy, you must be joking!" Josephine insisted. "Charlotte is far too clever for the likes of Mr. Collins."

"You are entirely correct, Jo," Lizzy conceded. "However, from a Muggle standpoint, the match is a good one. Charlotte will run her own home and no longer need fear being a burden to her parents."

Phoebe suddenly shuddered. "Merlin's beard, to be _married_ to, to _have children_ with Mr. Collins! Poor Charlotte."

"I could never be happy with someone so stupid, I'm sure," said Josephine.

"_I_ could never be happy with someone so dreadfully _ugly_," said Phoebe, gagging exaggeratedly to emphasize her point.

"We are fortunate that we do not _have_ to marry _at all_," said Lizzy pointedly.

Conversation flowed easily from one topic to the next as the friends caught up with each other until Josephine turned to Lizzy and said, "What's this I heard about you becoming acquainted with Lady Matlock?"

Lizzy sucked in a breath and pursed her lips for a moment before responding. "I don't see what the fuss is. She is only another witch. Why should it be of consequence to anyone that she has taken an interest in me?"

"Lizzy, you don't _know_ the Matlocks like we do!" said Phoebe. "They are one of the most respected families in the magical world!"

"If that is the case, they hide it remarkably well," said Lizzy distractedly, pulling a gown from her trunk and examining a stain she had not noticed before. "I had hardly heard the name before this break."

"They don't seek out notice," said Josephine. "That's part of what makes them so noteworthy! So many flash their money or their names around for attention, but not the Matlocks! They live remarkably quietly, all things considered."

"Lord Matlock is an exceptional duelist," Phoebe continued. "He was once nearly on level with Flitwick! And there's not a single _hint_ of scandal surrounding him. Impressive, indeed, considering his involvement in both the magical and Muggle governments."

"And Lady Matlock is such a fine woman," Josephine pressed on. "It's rumored she stopped a magical war breaking out between France and England by introducing the Minister of Magic's wife to several high-level French Ministry women, as friends. And she dresses so very elegantly."

"And then there's their sons," said Phoebe with a suggestive twitch of her eyebrows. "Well, I suppose it'd be more fair to say _son_. Harland's not worth much notice, now. But Richard?" Phoebe exhaled carefully.

"The major is quite the capable military man," said Josephine in agreement. "I heard he refuses to let the Ministry or his father buy him promotions in the Muggle ranks. He's earned his current position, and is likely to be made a colonel before long. Very, _very_ impressive."

Lizzy maintained her silence as she began working at the stain on her dress. From what she had seen of each of the members of Lord Matlock's family, Josephine and Phoebe's information seemed likely to be correct. Perhaps she had underestimated the honor Lady Matlock had bestowed on her.

"Well, go on, Lizzy," Phoebe encouraged. "How did you come to know Lady Matlock?"

Lizzy tried a few spells on the mark in her gown before answering. "Professor Flitwick entered Mr. Darcy and me in a dueling competition. Lord Matlock came to support his nephew and, being old friends, invited Flitwick to dinner. I came up in conversation, apparently, and Lady Matlock called upon me at the Gardiners' the next day," she said with a shrug. She studiously avoided looking at either of her friends, knowing they were exchanging yet more glances she did not want to deal with.

Thankfully, Josephine and Phoebe chose asking after the competition over asking further about the Matlocks.

* * *

Darcy braced himself to enter the Great Hall for breakfast. Today, for the first time in months, he would seek company during his meals.

In the first several weeks of class at Hogwarts, he had thought himself to be making friends with a few other students. As time passed, however, he was swallowed up by his own concerns. Thanks to Elizabeth's harsh critiques, Darcy realized he had shut out the possibility of new friends and pushed them away. He had largely chosen to sit by himself, tending to homework and business, over conversing at meals. If he were honest with himself, he would like to continue in that tradition. Addressing Elizabeth's observations of his failings, however, was of great import to him, and worth the few minutes of discomfort he would suffer.

"Good morning, Diggory, Higgins, Leah," said Darcy politely, approaching from behind. "May I join you?"

The three Ravenclaws exchanged looks with raised brows, making Darcy feel an impressive pang of embarrassment. Had he really been so aloof as to warrant their surprise that he would desire their company?

"Sure, Darcy," said Silas Diggory finally. "That place setting there is open."

"Thank you," said Darcy, taking the indicated seat. Though he did not necessarily feel unwelcome, he could tell that his house mates were ill at ease with his presence. Their conversation was stilted. He pondered a solution for several minutes before realizing, to his horror, that he had not contributed a single word. Instead, he had been focused intently on his food and, occasionally, checking his bag for something. "What are your plans for Quidditch this term, Higgins?" he half-blurted.

Higgins quirked an eyebrow, but answered readily enough. Conversation eased by a few degrees.

"I remember you saying before the holidays, Diggory, that you were expecting to meet your newest nephew before returning," said Darcy after thinking of other ways to endear himself to the group surrounding him. "Were you able to?"

Silas easily spent the next several minutes describing his nephew with such acute detail and enthusiasm none of his conversational partners could think of anything further to ask.

Darcy next concentrated his efforts on Leah, asking how she had spent her break and if she planned to ask after an independent study with Professor Sprout. Leah answered with ease.

When breakfast ended, Darcy scanned the hall out of habit and was gratified to find Elizabeth looking in his direction with a mildly pleased expression. His heart soared at being on the receiving end of such a look and it was difficult not to head straight for her, but he knew it would be better for everyone in the long run if he walked with Higgins and Leah to class.

* * *

"Bennet."

Lizzy forced her face to look unperturbed as she found her way to Potions blocked by Malfoy. She had blessedly been largely unbothered by him since the Quidditch incident, but it appeared something was on his mind today. "Malfoy," she said evenly. She tried to step around him, but he countered.

"Heard you're trying to climb out of the stinking pit you were born into."

Lizzy maintained an expression of carefully crafted calm, but she seethed internally. "That's all news to me," she said as lightly as she could manage through her twitching jaw muscles.

"Don't play dumb, Bennet, convincing though you can be at the role," Malfoy spat, causing Elizabeth to swell just that much more with rage. "You, a Mudblood, trying to rub elbows with the likes of Lady Matlock does not go unnoticed!"

"Difficult as you may find it to believe, Malfoy," Lizzy snarled, her calm having deserted her, "I care nothing for the blood status of any person I choose to associate with, nor of those who choose to associate with me. If Lady Matlock's interests upset you so greatly, you may take them up with her. I doubt she will pay you much heed, however, as she is an intelligent woman that is more than capable of making her own decisions without consulting the likes of someone so narrow-minded as you!

"Now, if you please, I would like to go to class!"

"You don't deserve to be here, and you don't belong, _Mudblood_," Malfoy hissed.

"Thank you for sharing your unsolicited opinions so freely," said Lizzy acidly before shouldering her way past Malfoy.

"I'm not through talking to you!" Malfoy declared, reaching out to grab Lizzy's bag and stop her progression.

Lizzy whipped around, drawing her wand from up her sleeve as she did so. "Whatever the intensity of your desire to speak, I have lost any desire to listen," she growled. "I will be going into class now, and if you wish to prevent it, feel free to cause a scene."

Malfoy stared at Lizzy with unconcealed hatred, but released his grip on her bag.

"Are you well, Lizzy?" asked Bingley as she joined his table. Jane had yet to make her way in.

"Perfectly so, Charles, thank you," said Lizzy tightly.

Bingley observed Malfoy enter with a livid expression and frowned. "Maybe I should walk with you from class to class for a few days," he suggested.

Lizzy's eyes narrowed frightfully. "I can handle myself, Charles."

"I've no doubt of that," said Bingley quickly. "I just don't think you should have to."

"I've become used to it," Lizzy said bitterly.

Bingley wisely chose not to press on the subject any further.

* * *

The next several weeks saw a new normal established for Lizzy. She was often asked for details regarding Jane and Bingley, which she staunchly refused to give, much to the frustration of the more romantically inclined population of Hogwarts. She did enjoy spending more time with Bingley, however, and quite looked forward to being able to call him her brother.

Of more frustration to Lizzy, however, was the fact that several students had started to try wedging their way into her company as news of Lady Matlock having singled her out spread. Even Caroline, who had still not said a word to her brother, tried to ingratiate herself. Malfoy had begun his hateful campaign towards her again, though he was much more careful about it than he had been previously. Somehow, Lizzy frequently found herself in empty, or nearly empty, hallways or classrooms with the bigot.

Darcy continued improving in the social graces Lizzy had noticed him exercise the first breakfast back from break. He was now frequently in company of other students and, while clearly not completely at ease to Lizzy, was perfectly polite and accommodating. She also appreciated his restraint in regards to herself. She continued to spend her Monday evenings in her chosen sanctuary of isolation to get her work done, but he had not come to find her again. After a time, she was irritated to discover that she was somewhat annoyed by his deference. He had become infinitely more tolerable, yet she seemed not to be in his company as often as she had been when she found him completely insufferable.

The beginning of February saw Gryffindor play Hufflepuff. Lizzy had enjoyed the time leading up to the match exceedingly. She, Jane, and Bingley spent a great deal of time teasing each other about what the outcome of the match must be. Albert and the rest of his team had exchanged harmless pranks back and forth with Lizzy and hers.

"If you manage to scrape out a victory, Bennet, I'll carry your books for a week!" Albert had declared loudly after changing his robes back to their normal black at lunch one day after Lizzy had turned them scarlet.

"Oh, that sounds quite delightful!" Lizzy had replied. "My team should appreciate the same courtesy, I am sure."

"Fine," said Albert. "If you win, Hufflepuff team will carry Gryffindor's books for a week complete!"

Lizzy arched a brow, fully aware that much of the attention in the Great Hall was focused on the confrontation between her and her friend. "I suppose it is only fair that I should offer my services and those of my team, should you somehow manage to come out of this victorious."

The match had been a close call, the Chasers and Keepers being evenly matched. Ezra had a slightly better seat than Hufflepuff's Seeker, however, and secured Gryffindor's victory. Albert carting Lizzy's books all over the castle had been the subject of much good-natured teasing from many among the student body. Albert took it all in stride, laughing along with everyone else and saying "Yes, Mistress," with all the finesse of a well-trained servant whenever Lizzy imperiously demanded he take on her burden.

Lizzy might have behaved a little less flippantly, or perhaps even more so, had she been aware of just how much offense certain Slytherins took to her antics.

* * *

Darcy walked into Transfiguration and looked around for only a moment before heading for the seat he desired. There had been so much joking done by the student body in the previous week with Albert carrying Elizabeth's books around that he hoped to use the excuse of continuing the joke to be of service to her, unnecessary though the service was.

It had taken some time, but Darcy finally felt as though his tentative friendships were stable enough that he could allow himself to devote some attention to his pursuit of Elizabeth. To approach her at Hogwarts, before proving to her that what he had shown her of himself in London was how he truly was and wished to be, would have been complete folly. Admittedly, he had pursued the friendships initially to garner Elizabeth's approval, but he had come to enjoy the relationships very much. Silas was an excellent study partner, though they were not in the same year. Higgins, much like Bingley, did not let Darcy take himself too seriously and paved the way for many more introductions. Leah was sensible and observant, and Darcy found she was very good at making him think more deeply on various matters.

Darcy took a deep breath to brace himself, then tentatively put his hand on the chair where he hoped to place himself. "Is this seat taken?"

Elizabeth looked up from her book and smiled. Darcy felt tension melt within him and his own lips twitched upward hopefully. It had been so very difficult to give her space the past weeks, and he had missed speaking with her dreadfully.

"At your leisure, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth, gesturing to the chair before returning her attention to her book.

Darcy fell into the seat, thoroughly pleased. He had not seen a single sign of hesitancy or unhappiness from Elizabeth at his request, and he flattered himself he had become rather good at distinguishing such signs from her through his many foolish interactions with the woman. Though the victory might seem small, he would bask in it.

Content to simply be beside her, Darcy left Elizabeth to her book and pulled out a letter from his steward. He had read the matter concerning him most over twice before his attention was pulled away.

"Is there something particularly bothersome about your correspondence, Mr. Darcy?"

Darcy started slightly and twitched his lips at being addressed. "I've been thinking over this a few days. My steward writes that a dispute has erupted between two of my tenants," he sighed after allowing himself a moment of pleasure. It would not do to ignore his many responsibilities in favor of Elizabeth; that would surely not be agreeable to anyone, her in particular. "The Robertsons claim the Millers' son, a boy of eleven, broke a fence keeping their sheep, resulting in the death of three of the beasts. The Millers insist their son was never anywhere near the fence and say the Robertsons have been looking for an excuse to get someone else to pay for the damage."

Elizabeth's eyebrows drew together as she thought. "Are there many fences on your estate that require attention?"

"No," Darcy answered quickly. He was very attentive to such things. The upkeep of the tenant farms was key to the continued success of Pemberley, and so he saw to it with as much detail as he felt he was able. "I surveyed the estate only a few months ago and all was in order. My steward regularly rides out and would have reported an issue in fencing to me."

"Then perhaps there is some truth to what the Millers say," Elizabeth suggested reasonably.

"The Robertsons have been at Pemberley for three generations," Darcy answered. "They have been exemplary tenants. I cannot imagine they would try to deceive me so."

"And the Millers?" Elizabeth asked.

"They have also been in residence quite some time with no incidents preceding this one," Darcy said, his eyes scanning the words of his steward once more. "This is exceedingly frustrating. The repair required is extensive, not to mention the Robertsons want reparations for their lost sheep. How can I demand payment from one family or the other when I am not sure which is the guilty party? And demand payment I must, lest this sort of thing become a regular occurrence on Pemberley grounds." Later, Darcy would find himself surprised with just how freely he had spoken, as he rarely discussed his responsibilities with anyone.

"Do the Robertsons have any children?" Elizabeth asked after a moment of thought.

"Five," Darcy answered automatically. "Matthew, their youngest, just turned two last month." Had he been looking at Elizabeth instead of his letter, he might have seen the content look in her eye when he revealed his depth of knowledge of his tenants.

"Perhaps following the example of King Solomon might bear some fruit," Elizabeth suggested.

"Pardon?" Darcy blurted. He had certainly not thought of consulting the antics of long-deceased kings for inspiration.

"Take the issue at hand and cut it half," Elizabeth elaborated. "Suggest that each family cover half the expense. I would assume that one family will eagerly agree to the plan, and the other will staunchly oppose it."

"Thus giving my steward and me a better idea of which family to investigate more closely," Darcy said distantly. He had not thought of such a proposition and smiled at finally having a possible solution which had eluded him for days. "If it turns out a child of one family or the other is, indeed, at fault, they can work off the expense in Pemberley's stables or kitchens."

Elizabeth smiled warmly at Darcy, declared she thought the solution to be a good one, and closed her book to devote her attention to Professor McGonagall, who had just entered the room.

Darcy hardly heard a word of the lesson. He had just discovered a new facet of Elizabeth that he had not before considered and now found exceptionally attractive: she was perfectly capable of assisting in the managing of Pemberley, not only as a mistress, but as a proper landowner. And she would be good at it.

"Has your faithful servant abandoned you today?" Darcy asked at the end of class as Elizabeth began to gather her things.

Elizabeth chuckled, delighting Darcy, before answering, "Alas, Albert found book carrying was not to his liking and has pursued another livelihood."

"How dreadful of him to leave you in such dire straits," said Darcy drily. "Allow me."

"Thank you, Mr. Darcy, but I believe I can manage," Elizabeth said with only a slight amount of reproach, shouldering her bag before Darcy could grab it.

Darcy had been about to let Elizabeth leave without comment, but he caught Malfoy in the corner of his eye by the door. Instinct told him not to leave Elizabeth by herself. "Are you going to the library for this period before lunch?" Darcy asked quickly, just as Elizabeth was turning to leave.

"Yes, I am," Elizabeth answered. She did not object when Darcy fell in step with her on the way out of the classroom, for which Darcy was grateful, especially since Malfoy looked ready to burst as they passed him. "Zebulon and I intend to try to prepare for whatever Hagrid may throw at us at our practical exam on Friday."

Darcy winced at the thought. Hagrid was a perfectly genial man, but Darcy could not agree that he was a good teacher, for he lacked the caution that ought to be exercised around many of the creatures he brought before the class. A Hufflepuff had almost been disemboweled by a hippogriff during their first practical exam.

"Hagrid's practicals certainly do require some preparation," Darcy said carefully. He knew how much Elizabeth liked Hagrid, and so did not want to say anything against the man. "Higgins was planning on doing the same, and suggested I join him. Perhaps we can merge parties?"

"I think that could be agreeable," Elizabeth conceded. She raised an eyebrow at Darcy after a moment. "I know you don't particularly care for Hagrid's class, Mr. Darcy. You can speak your mind."

Darcy exhaled as he considered his response. "I believe Hagrid often forgets that he is an exceptional person, and that his students need to be more cautious in their approach to various creatures than he is used to exercising, and certainly he is not used to teaching such caution."

"That's all part of the fun," Elizabeth laughed. "I can understand your viewpoint well enough, I suppose. I appreciate Hagrid's zeal, however. It would be so easy to teach us to be afraid of, rather than respect and awe, the creatures of the magical world. Perhaps more caution could be exercised, but I like Hagrid's fearless approach."

Hearing Elizabeth say "fearless" harshly brought Malfoy's murderous expression back to Darcy's face. "I respect your argument, Miss Bennet," he said, then took an audible breath to announce a change in topic. "Have you been forced to endure any encounters with Ursus lately?" he asked in a monotone, allowing his neutral expression to take over his face.

"You're hiding again," Elizabeth said lowly.

"I am," Darcy admitted. "I will not be dissuaded from my question, however."

Elizabeth huffed. "It is of little matter, Mr. Darcy," she tried to say airily.

Darcy grit his teeth. Her avoidance of giving direct information was answer enough. "I know only too well that you do not take kindly to interference, Miss Bennet. Please allow me to caution you, as I did once before, that Ursus Malfoy will not keep to the confines of polite conduct and engagement if he believes his end to be achievable."

"Thank you for your warning, Mr. Darcy," said Elizabeth coolly before stepping into the library.

Darcy looked to the ceiling in frustration for a moment before following.

Darcy enjoyed his study session with Elizabeth, Zebulon, and Higgins. He had not been nervous about Hagrid's exam to begin with, but felt better prepared, nonetheless. As the group was preparing to leave, Zebulon managed to knock a stack of books off the table.

"Zebulon!" Elizabeth breathed, staring at the fallen books in wide-eyed horror.

"It was an accident, Lizzy," said Zebulon, going to his knees to begin inspecting the damage. "Higgins, would you be so good as to escort Lizzy down to lunch before she faints from shock? Or tattles to Pince?"

Mock anger replaced the shock on Elizabeth's face as she looked down at her friend. "I _was_ going to offer to help you, Zebulon, but after those comments, I think I shall leave you to Madam Pince's mercy. Come along, Higgins! It would not do for you to fail to honor the last request of a good friend."

Darcy allowed himself a moment's frustration that it was Higgins walking away with Elizabeth before stooping to assist Zebulon.

"Thanks, mate," said Zebulon as they restacked the books and began quickly inspecting for damage. Thankfully, none was found.

"It seems luck is on your side today, Thomas," said Darcy as he set down the final book.

"Let's see if it's on yours, as well," said Zebulon. All pretense of amiability fled his person. He leaned on the table in front of Darcy, arms crossed firmly over his chest and a hard look in his eyes. "Since she doesn't have a brother to look after her, I'll ask. What are your intentions with Lizzy?"

Darcy's first instinct was to be offended. His childhood thoughts urged him to condemn the audacity of this shopkeeper's son that would question his honor. Thankfully, his recently acquired better understanding of social worth quickly overrode the unreasonable thoughts. He was able to see Zebulon as Elizabeth's concerned friend, and had to admire him for it.

"My intentions with Miss Elizabeth are entirely honorable," said Darcy.

"I'm not sure I believe it," said Zebulon, his brows drawing together. "You enjoy the status your wealth gives you, as you've made clear by your behavior since coming to Hogwarts. Why should I believe you're willing to risk the ire of your pureblooded peers to pursue Lizzy honorably?"

Again, Darcy considered lashing out. It took him several moments of concentrated, controlled breathing to regain himself and answer calmly. "You are privileged to know Miss Elizabeth very well, Thomas. I hardly think I need explain how I came to be under her power. As for the 'ire of my pureblooded peers,' I find I care little for what they think any longer. I would rather be happy with people from various circles than be miserable and among the 'top tier.'"

Zebulon regarded Darcy carefully for several more moments before pushing himself off the table. "Jo and Phoebe told me what she had to deal with at home over break," he said, his stern demeanor breaking slightly. "I just want you to know that people are looking out for her, even if it's not her parents."

"Then I think you and I can be good friends," Darcy ventured.

"We'll see," said Zebulon skeptically before walking away.

Darcy allowed himself to chuckle and shake his head. It was a shame Zebulon did not have any sisters to look after; he was well suited to the task.

* * *

"No, no, Jo," Lizzy chided one day at lunch. She was looking over her friend's most recent Muggle Studies essay, offering suggestions for improvements at Josephine's request. "You've got those details flipped around."

"But the book clearly stated – " Josephine trailed off in frustration and pulled the book from her bag before slamming it open to the desired page. "Ah, yes! See, here? Exactly as I wrote it."

Lizzy glanced over the text. "The information is right, but not for the situation you are describing in your writing."

Josephine groaned in frustration. "Why must the Muggles be so complicated? Can't they just do things logically and consistently?"

"What fun would that be?" Lizzy asked drily as Josephine began crossing out lines.

"Lizzy."

Lizzy turned in her seat to find Mary directly behind. "Good afternoon, Mary! Have you decided to branch out and sit with me at Gryffindor table?"

"No, I won't make your housemates uncomfortable, amusing as you sometimes find it," said Mary knowingly.

"I do think it serves some of them right to be made to squirm, on occasion," Lizzy admitted.

Mary rolled her eyes. "You should go to Jane. Ask her about letters received this morning."

"Mary," Lizzy said slowly and suspiciously, her eyes narrowing.

"No, I've said enough," Mary said with finality, and walked away without another word.

Lizzy sighed heavily, made an apology to a highly distracted and annoyed Josephine, then swung her legs over the bench and made her way over to Jane.

"Lizzy!" said Jane a little too energetically. "I thought you were helping Jo with her homework."

"Mary sent me," Lizzy said flatly.

Jane pursed her lips for a moment, then seemed to come to a decision. She bundled some items of food in a napkin and led Lizzy to an empty classroom so they could discuss freely.

"There's no point in dancing around the matter, I suppose," Jane said unenthusiastically as she began setting the pilfered food between her and her sister. "Mama sent me a letter."

"Oh?" Lizzy choked out after a moment.

"She believes I have carried on long enough and now ought to return home to plan for the wedding," Jane stated factually. She busied herself with tearing a piece of meat into manageable bites to allow Lizzy the courtesy of processing for a few moments without being observed.

"Is that all?" Lizzy tried to ask lightly.

"She did mention I ought to bring my sisters back, as well," Jane offered. "With me marrying so well, there is no need for them to continue at school. She and our Aunt Philips can more easily find matches for them now, she is sure, when the time is right."

"Let me read it, Jane."

Jane finally met Lizzy's eyes and the sisters studied each other carefully for several moments before Jane relented and pulled the missive from her pocket.

Lizzy flicked the letter open and munched absentmindedly on a roll as she read. "It is nice to know her spirits have recovered from the terrible shock of losing Longbourn's heir as a son-in-law," she said almost casually as she set the letter aside. Mrs. Bennet had, indeed, told Jane to bring all her sisters home by name: Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. Lizzy was not even hinted at through the entirety of the letter.

"I have been thinking all day how to respond," Jane said ignoring Lizzy's cutting remark. "I don't like this rift, Lizzy. You know I do not."

Lizzy felt some of her anger at her mother dissipate in favor of soothing Jane's concerns. "I can well believe it. You are so very good, Jane."

"What are your thoughts on the matter, Lizzy?" Jane asked earnestly. "Do be serious."

Lizzy swallowed the quip she had been preparing to spit out. "You know very well my opinions where Mama's exuberance is concerned, how low my tolerance is, and how often I have wished she would simply leave me alone. All the same," she took a moment to brace herself for the admission, "I truly do not like being cut so by my mother."

Jane reached out and grasped Lizzy's hand comfortingly for a few moments. "I think I know how to respond, now," she said with resolute calm. "I shall not answer Mama at all, but write instead to Papa. With your permission, Lizzy, I will tell him how much we are all struggling with the matter, you in particular. I will ask he take steps to bring his wife to heel. I do very much wish to be married from Longbourn and for there not to be division in my family, but I could not be at peace with Mama working to exclude my dearest sister from the celebration. If Mama cannot be made to see sense, then she shall not see me wed, and she will not see any of her daughters unless they explicitly ask me and my husband to send them to Longbourn. Papa will be made to recognize his responsibilities, and Mama her mistakes, or they will not. Either way, I will know how to act."

"Jane," Lizzy breathed, "I cannot ask you to abandon our parents on my behalf!"

"But you did not ask, Lizzy," Jane answered evenly. "It is my choice, and I choose the person who has been my companion these many years, who has helped and supported me at every turn, and who has worked tirelessly to assure that myself and the rest of my sisters would be well received in the world to which we belong."

Jane held Lizzy while she regained equilibrium and the sisters ate the rest of their meager lunch in companionable silence, though Lizzy did chastise Jane for making her go to class with red rimmed eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note**

I hope you enjoyed all the shorter snippets!


	20. Chapter 20

Darcy noticed that Elizabeth had become increasingly agitated in the past week. He tried asking her if anything was amiss, but she only curtly thanked him for his concern and sent him on his way. She was not well, he knew, and he desperately wished she would let him help her with her burden. As with her books, however, she stubbornly resisted his assistance, so he only watched and took advantage of whatever opportunities he could to offer his friendship.

After seeing Elizabeth snap at Lydia, something he had not witnessed since the first month of school, Darcy became well and truly concerned. He even tried applying to Mary, slim though he knew his chances were.

Mary had sighed deeply and looked at Darcy with frustration and what might be described as pity. "I still will not break my sister's confidence, Darcy," she had said firmly. "I do, however, believe you are acting wisely by not trying to force her. As much as we both may wish she behave differently, the best current course is to allow her time and space to process."

Finally, Darcy thought to try prying Bingley for information, an endeavor that had born much more fruit. Bingley confided that Jane had been sent a letter by Mrs. Bennet in which the woman had failed to acknowledge her second daughter. Jane had subsequently sent a lengthy missive to her father and, as of yet, received no answer.

Darcy's heart ached for Elizabeth. He was consumed by the desire to show her that the opinions of her parents were not shared by all, but painfully held himself back with the knowledge that he would not be met favorably by Elizabeth yet, if ever, and his assurances would only drive her further away and increase her discomfort.

As one week turned into two, Elizabeth's very physicality began to reflect her inner struggle. The sparkle had dimmed from her eyes, which had slight bags under them. Her shoulders seemed stooped. She sometimes stared blankly ahead for several minutes, even during class. She became consistently pale. Many of her fellow students thought she was simply succumbing to too many responsibilities again, and Darcy was grateful for their being so mislead, but he knew better.

The final straw in Darcy's resolve to leave Elizabeth completely be came one day after Transfiguration. He had been taking his time packing his things, as McGonagall had asked Elizabeth to stay behind a moment. He made a fuss of rolling his parchment, and, even though he knew he should not, kept a keen ear trained on Elizabeth and the professor.

"Bennet, you are worrying me," McGonagall said plainly. "Is there something going on that I should be made aware of?"

"It is not a matter you can assist with, Professor," Elizabeth answered, "therefore I will not burden you with it. I will be well with time, and truly appreciate your concern."

McGonagall regarded Elizabeth with thinned lips for a few moments. "I think I should like to catch up with Mrs. Gardiner further. Perhaps you would do me the favor of asking your aunt to come to Hogsmeade this weekend or next."

Elizabeth gave a weak smile. "The Gardiners have only a little more influence in the matter than you, Professor," she said. "If you are truly only wanting to socialize with Mrs. Gardiner, I am certain a letter from you would be well received." She then quit the room.

Darcy heard Elizabeth leave. Just before he followed her out, he looked back at McGonagall to see that the woman had crossed her arms, half-collapsed against her desk, and was looking at her retreating student with unfiltered sadness and concern.

His mind made up, Darcy hoisted his bag over his shoulder and followed Elizabeth through the halls at a distance. She would not accept his help directly, but he would be damned if he was not there if the time came that she needed someone. Delicately balancing protecting her and not smothering her, Darcy barely let Elizabeth out of his sight from that moment on.

* * *

Practice was not going well. Lizzy thought she might as well just tack it onto her growing list of frustrations and let practice out early, saving herself some bother. Obligation staid her desire, however, and she took a deep breath to try working with her teammates again.

"You keep falling for my feint, Siobhan!" Lizzy said. Octavius was behind the goalposts retrieving the Quaffle that had sailed through Siobhan's attempts to stop it. "You know the signs. Observe them!"

As Octavius threw the Quaffle back to Lizzy, Siobhan made her reply. "I'll get it soon, I promise! Give it another go, Lizzy. We know full well Higgins has his team practicing this all over the place. I need to get used to it."

Lizzy barely restrained from snapping that Siobhan had plenty of time to get used to the Chasing tactic, both from their scrimmages with Ravenclaw and her own use of it for the past thirty minutes. Siobhan was trying, she knew. She also knew that Siobhan's difficulty was not the ultimate cause of her foul mood and that taking her anger out on her teammate would not go over well. If anything, she ought to be grateful for Siobhan's continued determination.

"Alright, we'll try ten more times, but then we really ought to move on to something else, for all our sakes," Lizzy said.

What else Lizzy would have her team move on to, she was not sure. Ezra seemed to be flying slower than usual. He had yet to catch the Snitch through practice, and he usually managed to do so at least twice by now. Levi and Julian were hard at work, practicing their aim by trying to alter Phoebe's flight path as she zoomed back and forth across the pitch, but they also seemed to be not at their best.

Suddenly, a crack and a pained shout rang out across the pitch, and Lizzy knew practice was over.

"What happened?" she demanded, flying over to Phoebe, who was holding her brother up on his broom.

"I didn't mean to, honest!" Levi said in a panicked fashion.

"It's not your fault, Levi," Phoebe said as she wiped her brother's suddenly sweaty face with her sleeve. "Julian mistimed his swing by just the wrong amount. The Bludger caught him full on in the elbow, probably shattered it."

Lizzy sighed, then grabbed Julian's broom handle and directed him toward the ground with Phoebe's assistance.

"Come on, Julian, let's get you to Madam Pomfrey," said Phoebe, addressing her brother more gently than she usually did. "She'll fix you right up. You can be back on your broom tomorrow, I bet."

"Well, Lizzy, what now?" asked Ezra, the last of the team to come to the ground, as the Weasleys started back toward the castle.

"Just go back to the dormitory," Lizzy snapped. She quickly realized her error and managed to smile at her team and say more politely, "This just isn't our night. We'll try again next time, after we all get some sleep and have a good meal or two. Everyone's got to have a bad night sometime or another, right?"

Her teammates somewhat placated, everyone put their things away and bid Lizzy goodnight before beginning to trek across the grounds.

Lizzy considered walking back with her team, but thought her presence might not be appreciated at just that moment. She collapsed on top of the crate of Quidditch equipment and buried her face in her hands. For several minutes, she simply sat and thought.

Lizzy was absolutely furious with herself. She knew she was acting completely out of character and ridiculous, yet she could not manage to snap herself out of the prevailing mood she had been stuck in since Jane got that letter from Mrs. Bennet.

She tried to reason with herself anew. Her foul mood was affecting all her relationships, she knew. Lydia had all but ceased asking for help on assignments and, with many of the other younger Gryffindors, had started tiptoeing around Lizzy and finding whatever excuses possible to give her ample space. Josephine, Phoebe, and Zebulon stayed close to her, but they did not speak overly much and seemed instead to simply act as a barrier to keep Lizzy from lashing out at others. Worse than being avoided, however, was being pitied, as Lizzy knew she was. She could see it in the eyes of her professors. Jane felt sorry for her, also, as did Bingley, though the couple tried to hide it.

Lizzy was altogether sick of it. That she could not simply shrug off the fact that her mother had cut her was excessively bothersome. Mrs. Bennet had never particularly cared for Lizzy, so why should it matter so much that she now failed to acknowledge her daughter?

Thoughts that were becoming annoyingly frequent came next: that Lizzy was not truly so bothered by her mother's behavior as she was by her father's. Before going to Hogwarts, she had shared a special bond with her father and felt confident in his care. Their relationship had changed when she went to school, certainly, and she even came to recognize that he was not as attentive as he could have been. To have him leave her to her mother's impulsive vindictiveness, however, was something Lizzy had not expected, and it tore at her greatly. She supposed she always knew her issues with her mother would come to a head, but had thought she could depend on her father to protect her. Being proved wrong left her feeling empty and alone. Perhaps he had not cared for her as much as she thought.

Letting out a frustrated growl, Lizzy shoved herself up from the trunk on which she had sat and stowed it away properly before beginning the journey back to the castle. She did not want to think about her father. She would rather cling to anger than become despondent.

As she stomped across the grounds, Lizzy began running through her list of assignments in her head. She had begun to relax somewhat when she heard a shuffle in the shadows of the castle.

"Hello?" she asked irritably into the darkness. Briefly, she wondered if one of her teammates had stayed back to execute a marvelously poorly thought out prank. Belief that her teammates could not be so abysmally foolish, however, won out, and Lizzy exposed the handle of her wand from up her sleeve as a precaution when her inquiry went unanswered.

Lizzy had hardly paid it any mind, especially since her thoughts had been so much occupied by her parents, but she knew that Malfoy was still dreadfully upset that she had found favor with Lady Matlock, and she remembered Darcy's warning well. Each day, it seemed, brought more fury and hatred to Malfoy's pale visage, and Lizzy would not put it past him to come after her.

Quite suddenly, Lizzy was blinded by a brilliant flash of light. Instinctively, she threw up a Shield Charm, and was immensely grateful as the first flash was followed by several more, though they were dimmer.

Lizzy's dueling training quickly took over. She recognized her vision was impaired; it was dark, and her eyes had been overwhelmed by the sudden light. That would sort itself out with time, though she was not sure how much of the luxury she could expect. Lizzy also noted that she was at the bottom of a hill, and her assailant had the high ground. At least she knew the direction of her opponent. After taking a brief moment to collect herself, Lizzy lowered her shield and began her own combative assault.

It did not take long for Lizzy to recognize that her assailant, whom she was certain she could guess, was not playing by the rules of polite dueling. She was disturbed to find that she was struggling to defend herself and gain any ground against spells which she never practiced. They were not considered acceptable in most dueling circles. Lizzy quickly acknowledged that there was a great deal of difference between a duel for sport and a duel as a true fight, and she adjusted her strategy to accommodate the realization.

Lizzy had finally started to gain ground, moving her way up the hill as her vision started to become adjusted to the strange mix of darkness and flashing light. She had just begun thinking she might actually achieve the high ground and be able to put herself between the entrance of the castle and her assailant when pain suddenly exploded through her head and she stopped processing sound.

Lizzy gasped and thought her ears might even be bleeding, such was her level of discomfort. Her thoughts raced as she tried to find a solution. She relied on her hearing in a duel, she knew. Without it, she would have a great deal of difficulty tracking her attacker. One sense completely eliminated, and other hindered, Lizzy knew her options were slim.

She hurried to call upon her knowledge of her likely assailant. If Malfoy was on the other end of the wand, he would want her to see his face before he finished the fight, such was his arrogance. With such thoughts in mind, Lizzy allowed herself to double over and felt her chest convulsing as if releasing whimpers, though she was not able to confirm if she was actually making the appropriate noises or not. She clutched her hands to her ears, but kept a firm grip on her wand and a keen eye on the ground around her.

Finally, a pair of boots came into the edge of her line of vision. Lizzy took as deep a breath as she was able and braced herself to go on the offensive again, but the boots suddenly left the ground entirely. Light began flashing again.

Certain that her opponent was sufficiently occupied, at least for the time being, Lizzy rolled further into the shadows of the school, put her wand to her right ear, and began chanting. When she was at last able to hear muffled sounds around her, Lizzy declared herself ready to engage again and sought out her original assailant. Instead, she turned to find Darcy running toward her, wand in hand.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Elizabeth asked. She knew she was being louder than necessary, but could not stop herself and figured it was at least an indication to Darcy that he would need to speak up.

"I saw all the lights and just knew," Darcy said. His voice sounded faint, but Elizabeth could see that his neck was strained from the effort of the true volume he must have been exercising. "You know who it was, I am sure. I made sure he went back – "

"What?" Elizabeth asked as Darcy's voice dipped below the volume she was able to hear.

"You're bleeding!" Darcy exclaimed.

Elizabeth looked down at her hands to realize they were indeed covered in blood, though there was not a cut on them. She brought a hand to her ear, then held it in front of her fact to see dark liquid reflecting off Darcy's wand light. "Oh," she murmured. She had thought she might be bleeding, but had not thought it to be to such a degree.

"You need to get to Madam Pomfrey immediately," Darcy said loudly, reaching out to take her arm.

Elizabeth batted him away, putting her wand to her left ear this time and beginning to chant again.

"What in the world has happened out here?"

Elizabeth whipped around to see her wide-eyed head of house approaching. She quickly put her hands behind her back and began trying to wipe the blood from them on her Quidditch robes. "Professor McGonagall!" she tried to say pleasantly.

"I demand answers, Bennet, not pleasantries," McGonagall said harshly.

"I was just on my way back from practice, Professor," Elizabeth answered. "I cannot speak for Mr. Darcy."

"On your way back from practice?" McGonagall asked shrewdly. "Is that why you are surrounded by evidence of a duel? I know you are both studying with Professor Flitwick and entered in a competition, but I was given to understand that it had been quite clearly stated you were not to practice without his supervision!"

"Miss Bennet was attacked, Professor," said Darcy.

Elizabeth felt her eyes widen drastically as she turned her head to glare at Darcy. He seemed not to take notice.

"I believe someone was lying in wait and hoping she would return from practice by herself," Darcy elaborated under McGonagall's stern gaze. "I was on my way back from tending my thestrals when I saw and interfered. The attacker made a quick escape to the castle."

"Is this true, Ben – Is that blood?"

Elizabeth had been so distracted by trying to show her anger to Darcy that she had forgotten about her blood-soaked hands, which were now balled into fists at her side.

McGonagall lit her wand and shone it mercilessly on Elizabeth before gasping.

"It's not as bad as it looks, Professor!" Elizabeth said quickly.

"Oh, Elizabeth, you cannot possibly believe that," McGonagall said sadly. She put a gentle arm around Elizabeth and began guiding her back to the castle, all anger abandoned.

McGonagall addressing and treating her in such a fashion broke something in Elizabeth, and she suddenly shivered and felt weak about her knees, her strength abruptly failing her.

"Grab her other side, Darcy," McGonagall directed as Elizabeth stumbled.

Elizabeth felt her feet leave the ground entirely, but could not find in herself the desire to object. Her mind suddenly flooded with pleasant memories of being carried about by her father and she set her arms around the neck of her transport. She heard a few more words exchanged, but did not care enough to try to decipher them. Instead, she allowed her eyes to close and gave herself over to her imagination.

* * *

Darcy looked at the precious burden in his arms with incredible concern. Under different circumstances, he might have been delighted that Elizabeth seemed not to object to being carried by him, and even more so by her arms settled around his neck, but the fact that her blood was soaking through his robes rather put a damper on the whole event.

McGonagall had given Darcy stern instructions not to be seen by anyone on his way to the hospital wing, which seemed quite manageable as curfew had started ten minutes ago, then rushed off to find Jane and consult her fellow heads of house and Dumbledore as to how the whole situation might be handled. She promised to be in the hospital wing in an hour.

When he had seen the telling flashes of light from the Forbidden Forest, Darcy knew Elizabeth was in trouble. He had pelted out of the forest toward the duel, and his heart had almost stopped completely at the sight that greeted him. The horrifying vision of Elizabeth curled up on the ground, face contorted in pain, hands pressed to her head, agonized moans escaping her, was something Darcy was sure would haunt his nightmares for years to come.

Rage had consumed him, and Darcy hardly recalled his ensuing duel with Malfoy, though he was sure killing him had been a near thing. Upset though he was at the moment that Malfoy still drew breath, Darcy knew he would come to see, with time, that the situation was greatly simplified because of it. Legalities, family complications, and his own guilt would have been quite a lot to deal with.

Guilt was not entirely escapable, however. Darcy felt keenly responsible for Elizabeth's pitiable and concerning condition. After days of keeping constant vigil over her, Darcy had allowed himself to be distracted by his thestrals, believing her to be safe with her teammates. He should have known, after seeing her do it so effectively with nearly everyone else over the past weeks, that she would manage to isolate herself from them. His negligence had given Malfoy the opportunity to harm her.

Darcy kicked open the door to the hospital wing and called loudly for Madam Pomfrey.

"Boy, can you not just enter _politely_, as is the cust – Merlin's beard!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, stopping short in her berating of Darcy.

"Miss Bennet was attacked on her way back from Quidditch practice," Darcy said. He did not break stride as he made for a bed to deposit Elizabeth onto so Pomfrey could set to work. "She did a basic counter curse on her ears, but they have continued to bleed."

When Darcy made to set Elizabeth down, her grip on his neck tightened. Pomfrey saw as much happen and impatiently kicked a footstool over so Darcy could sit on the edge of the bed with Elizabeth still in his arms. The well-practiced woman easily moved about, her wand flying through the air, as she inspected and began working on Elizabeth.

The door to the hospital wing burst open and Jane rushed in, Bingley following in her wake.

"Oh, Lizzy!" Jane cried upon catching sight of her sister.

"Make yourself useful, Bennet," Pomfrey ordered before Jane could begin spiraling. She sent Jane for several potions, waved Bingley out of her way, and continued tending to Elizabeth.

As Jane and Pomfrey continued fluttering about, Darcy allowed himself to simply gaze at Elizabeth. That she was uncomfortable was clear, but she kept her eyes firmly shut. As the women tending her began thinking aloud on how to best address going about stopping the continuation of the curse in effect and aiding the healing, Elizabeth turned her face fully into Darcy's shoulder. Unable to resist offering some form of comfort, Darcy bent his neck to quickly plant a kiss in Elizabeth's hair before drawing her closer to himself.

At hearing a pointed clearing of the throat, Darcy turned to see Bingley at his side, a basin and a washcloth in hand. Darcy gave a nod of thanks before adjusting Elizabeth slightly so he could hold her with one arm, then used his other hand to take the washcloth and begin carefully wiping at the blood still progressing down her neck.

Eventually, McGonagall came to the hospital wing with Dumbledore. Madam Pomfrey was greatly relieved to see the headmaster and asked he look Elizabeth over as he was much more proficient at dealing with curses of such magnitude than she was. Dumbledore wasted no time obliging, and pronounced the curse broken after no less than ten minutes spent in agonizingly tense silence.

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Free of the obligation of acting as a healer, Jane began crying and, ignoring any awkwardness in the arrangement, hugged her sister still ensconced in Darcy's arms. She wrapped her hands gently around Elizabeth's head and managed to expose her sister's face. Though Elizabeth's features were smeared with the blood that had soaked into the shoulder of Darcy's robes, Jane littered them with kisses and started whispering endearments.

Loathed though he was to release her, Darcy worked with Jane's unconscious efforts and carefully transferred care of Elizabeth's person over. Before long, Jane was cradling her sister's head and stroking her hair as she encouraged her to lie down.

"I should like to hear your recollection of the events leading to our current predicament, Mr. Darcy," said Dumbledore.

Darcy set his lips in a grim line. He looked to Bingley, who gave a firm and understanding nod. Confident Bingley would not leave Elizabeth unattended, Darcy dutifully answered the headmaster, "Yes, Professor." He followed Dumbledore out of the room, trusting Elizabeth to the care of her sister, future brother, and head of house. Madam Pomfrey had retreated to her office to prepare a report on the incident.

His interview with Dumbledore was to the point, which Darcy appreciated. He chose to hold nothing back. In addition to stating the facts of the evening, Darcy shared the ongoing animosity Malfoy displayed toward Elizabeth and his firm belief that it was Malfoy that had made the attack with a great deal of premeditation.

"You are certain it was Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked. He had been silent through Darcy's entire tale. Though Darcy believed Dumbledore to be well and truly upset by what had happened to his student, he maintained his objectivity and seemed determined to see the issue through to the bitter end. Darcy appreciated the man's steadfastness.

"I fought him off, Professor," Darcy said through his teeth. The image of Malfoy's smug satisfaction in response to Elizabeth's pain was not one he would be quick to forget. "I know Malfoy's face well enough to be confident."

Dumbledore simply stared at Darcy for a few moments, seemingly contemplating his next step. "I know you are eager to return to the hospital wing, Mr. Darcy, and I should like you to be able to do so as soon as possible," he said. "Before any more time passes, allowing recollections to be reworked and sullied, however, I will need you to write down everything you have told me."

"Am I to assume you will pursue some sort of legal action?" Darcy asked as Dumbledore set a scroll of parchment and a quill before him.

"I can hardly do otherwise," said Dumbledore. "Even if I wished to, I could not ignore such a savage attack on Hogwarts grounds. No Mr. Darcy, I will be sure this incident goes through all the proper channels."

"And Malfoy's punishment, sir?" Darcy asked, perhaps a little too eagerly.

Dumbledore silently regarded Darcy over his connected fingertips for a few moments. "Your statement, Mr. Darcy."

Understanding the discussion to be closed, Darcy picked up the quill with a sigh and began writing.

* * *

**Author's Note**

So, who's surprised? Share your reactions with me! I'm very curious what you think.


	21. Chapter 21

When Darcy returned to the hospital wing, he found Bingley sitting up with Phoebe Weasley. Jane and Elizabeth were both asleep, Jane's arms still wrapped protectively around her sister.

"Well, Darcy?" Bingley asked lowly, breaking from his conversation with Phoebe.

"I've written a statement. Elizabeth will be asked to write her own, I am sure. It's in Dumbledore's hands now," Darcy answered. He stepped closer to the bed so as to inspect Elizabeth more carefully. She looked far from at peace, but she was indeed sleeping, and he satisfied himself with the knowledge that sleep was probably one of the best things for her, at present. He drew a chair with his wand and settled with Bingley and Phoebe.

"Is the attack already common knowledge?" Darcy asked concernedly after trying to think of a reason to Phoebe's presence.

Phoebe shook her head. "I was here with Julian," she said. "He broke his arm at practice. I didn't think Lizzy would appreciate more people being around her, so I stayed behind the curtain. It was a difficult thing to do. If it hadn't been for Julian holding my hand, I don't think I would have succeeded."

"Speaking of people becoming knowledgeable," said Bingley, rising from his seat, "I think the rest of the Bennets ought to be informed, don't you?"

Phoebe sighed heavily and started getting to her feet. "I'll tell Lydia," she offered.

"Professor McGonagall is still awake, I'm sure," said Bingley, gently pushing Phoebe back into her chair. "I don't think she would object to fetching Lydia for me. And I would not be surprised to find Mary wandering the halls right now, anxiously looking for answers. I doubt she is unaware of the high emotions of her sisters," he said, glancing at his fiancée and Elizabeth. "No, Phoebe, stay. Julian may yet require your assistance."

Bingley clapped Darcy comfortingly on the shoulder on his way out.

"I knew I should have stayed back," Phoebe breathed, staring blankly in the direction of the slumbering Bennets.

"You were looking after your brother," said Darcy, running a hand over his face. He was exhausted, but knew it would be pointless to try to sleep. "I hardly think you could be called negligent."

"Jo, Zebulon, and I promised we wouldn't leave her by herself," Phoebe continued, seeming not to have heard Darcy. Her eyes finally focused and she turned to look at Darcy. "It was Malfoy, wasn't it?"

Darcy sighed and nodded, setting his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands.

"Merlin's beard," Phoebe muttered. "We'd been trying so hard to keep him away!"

Darcy exposed his eyes to look at Phoebe with furrowed brows.

"Do you really think you're the only one that noticed Malfoy's hatred and thought he might act on it?" Phoebe asked shrewdly.

"Perhaps we should have coordinated," Darcy said, bowing his head to run his hands through his hair.

"Well, Zebulon wasn't sure if we could trust you or not," Phoebe answered, only half teasing. "He'll be pleased to know we can, I'm sure."

Darcy allowed himself a mirthless chuckle as he recalled his most notable interaction with Zebulon.

"What were you really doing out on the grounds, Darcy?" Phoebe asked after a few moments of quiet.

Darcy only raised an eyebrow in response.

"I thought so," said Phoebe with a sage nod. "Well, if you're not going to allow me to blame myself, I won't allow you to blame yourself. Let's agree to let Malfoy have all the blame, shall we?"

Darcy felt himself smile. He had never truly interacted with Phoebe, only observed her with Elizabeth, but he found himself rather enjoying her conversation. Perhaps he could enlist her help, given enough time to prove himself to her, first. "I will certainly let him have the chief of it," he said.

"Not the chief of it," said Phoebe firmly, "_all_ of it.

"I can't wait to write my papa about this," Phoebe said, suddenly wistful. "He tries to hide it, but I know he hates Old Mr. Malfoy's guts. He'll be tickled to hear that Mr. Malfoy the younger will be branded a criminal."

Darcy released a true laugh this time, though he was careful to keep it quiet so he would not wake any occupants of the wing.

"You should go get some sleep, Darcy," Phoebe suggested after a few minutes of companionable silence.

Darcy breathed heavily through his nose and shook his head. "I couldn't possibly. Not after tonight."

Phoebe studied Darcy intently for several moments as he stared in Elizabeth's direction. "You really care for her, don't you?"

Darcy swallowed with difficulty and nodded.

Phoebe sighed and made a show of straightening her robes after rising from her seat. "Well, I wish you the best of luck, then. If it's any consolation, I don't think she hates you _quite_ as much as she did before break," she said with a wink.

Darcy's first instinct was to throw up his defensive mask, preventing Phoebe from reading his true thoughts. After so much struggle, however, he decided it may very well be worth it to show his true feelings to someone without it being explicitly demanded. He looked to Phoebe with hope-filled eyes.

Phoebe smiled gently at Darcy, then announced she intended to check on Julian one more time before retiring to Gryffindor Tower. Bingley might tell Lydia of what happened, but she claimed responsibility for informing Josephine and Zebulon, as well as managing any speculation that would start the moment Elizabeth's absence was noted.

Darcy lost track of time. His thoughts vacillated mercilessly between the hope inspired by Elizabeth allowing him to carry her and the deep-seated fear he had felt upon sighting her out on the grounds. What would he have done if Malfoy had succeeded in permanently harming, or even killing, Elizabeth? The thought of Wickham prowling about, also seeking to harm her, caused his chest to painfully constrict. He so desperately wanted to protect her, to help her. How could he make her see reason and let him?

"Darcy!" said Bingley's voice insistently, as if he had already tried calling several times.

Darcy started and put a hand to his chest, feeling his heart thunder against his palm. "How did they take it?" he asked after a moment. He had hoped his pulse would start to calm, but he had no such luck. His chest continued to physically ache, and he began to rub at his sternum in hopes of some relief.

"Kitty wanted to come to the hospital wing immediately," said Bingley fondly. "I managed to convince her to stay in the dormitories now, but she is adamant she will stay with Lizzy tomorrow night.

"Lydia was furious, as I'm sure you can imagine. I'm lucky I ran into Mary on my way to ask for McGonagall's help fetching the girl. Mary managed to calm Lydia just enough to get her to stay in Gryffindor Tower and promised me she would see to it Lydia did not have a chance to try anything stupid against Malfoy."

"You told them it was Malfoy?" Darcy raged at a whisper.

"No," said Bingley, unruffled by Darcy's energetic response. "Lydia simply assumed he tried to finish the job he started at that Quidditch match."

"And what about Mary?" Darcy asked, beginning to pace. The tension in his chest pervaded, and he found he could no longer sit still.

"She is upset, of course," said Bingley. "She told me she would like nothing better than to rip into Malfoy, but knows her sisters need her, at present, and will fulfill her obligations."

"Smart girl," Darcy muttered, continuing his strides back and forth.

Bingley watched his friend for a few moments before stepping into his path.

"Pray, get out of my way, Bingley," said Darcy distractedly. "I am not in a mood, at present, to be trifled with."

Bingley set his hands firmly on Darcy's shoulder and waited until his friend finally looked up. "You did everything you could, Darcy. She is safe. She will be well."

"This time," Darcy bit out. "What about the next? You and I know Malfoy too well to think this is over. And then there's the matter of Wickham. And her _ridiculous_ parents. Can she have no relief?"

Bingley shook Darcy slightly. "You, Fitzwilliam Darcy, need to stop trying to be delicate and simply dive in. Get your hands dirty. Get to the bottom of this. We'll all be happier for it."

"She doesn't want – "

"What she wants, Darcy, is the same as any of us want," Bingley interrupted. "To be wanted and to be happy. Love and safety. Consider all she's been dealing with. Do you think she feels she has much of any of those, at present?"

Darcy considered his friend's words, but felt he was still missing part of the puzzle.

"Lizzy doesn't speak of it often, and likely because she doesn't even realize she's doing it, but Jane notices," Bingley continued. "Lizzy behaves as she does, pushing help away, because she has become accustomed to having to look out for herself and for her sisters. She has not had anyone to lean on for assistance except Jane."

"And yet Jane accepts your help readily enough," Darcy said bitterly.

"Jane will admit she has not become as hardened as Lizzy because she has been treated with more deference by their mother," said Bingley. "She does not at all like that Mrs. Bennet will constantly compare Lizzy to her, but learned long ago that it was in everyone's best interest not to agitate Mrs. Bennet further by defending her 'bluestocking, hoyden of a sister that can't maintain her own tongue and shall surely never catch a husband.'"

The tightness in Darcy's chest gave way to rage and he felt his nails digging into his palms. At that moment, he very dearly wished to have a duel with Mrs. Bennet.

"We know what kind of man their father is," said Bingley, tightening his grip on Darcy's shoulders to keep his friend from storming away, "and we know what kind of woman their mother is. All Lizzy's seen has been callousness or an effort to control. Darcy, I don't think that Lizzy knows what it is to be lovingly and authentically protected."

The world suddenly seemed to make a great deal more sense. Darcy had figured out before that Elizabeth wanted control over her life, and he could comprehend that well enough. But now, thanks to Bingley's insight, he was able to see that insecurity and fear ruled over Elizabeth more than he had ever realized, and certainly more than she would willingly admit. With that in mind, he thought he just might have a pathway forward. Finally.

"Bingley, you brilliant man," Darcy said, reaching his own hands up to grip Bingley's shoulders. "When did you become so wise?"

"Perhaps I have always been so, and it just took you being properly humbled by a beautiful woman to notice," Bingley said teasingly.

Darcy grinned, then released his friend and stepped away. He glanced at a clock. "You ought to get Jane back to the Hufflepuff common room before people notice she's missing."

"And you?" Bingley asked.

"I'm not letting Elizabeth out of my sight," said Darcy firmly. "Not until Malfoy's been dealt with."

"God be with you, man," Bingley laughed. "I hope you don't think all will be smooth sailing now, thanks to your epiphany."

"No, I'm not so foolish," Darcy answered, unable to contain a smile. "I must start trying to help her understand what it is to be wanted and safe at some point, however. I might as well jump in with both feet."

Bingley grinned at Darcy once more before making his way to Jane and gently shaking her shoulder. It took some convincing, but he did manage to get her to leave with him.

Darcy made his way to the shelves Pomfrey kept stocked with reference materials and grabbed a book on advanced potions, then seated himself at Elizabeth's bedside and settled himself as comfortably as he could manage.

The sun had started to rise when Elizabeth stirred. "Jane?" she said sleepily.

"Your sister is, by now, preparing for the day and strategizing how to avoid your plight becoming the most interesting topic to be discussed in the halls," said Darcy. He kept his eyes on the potions book he had been sifting through. Though he did very much wish to see what Elizabeth looked like when she first awoke, he thought she deserved the chance to collect herself.

Several moments passed in which Darcy could hear Elizabeth moving about to make herself more presentable.

"Have you been here all night?"

Darcy finally looked up at being directly addressed and grimaced. Elizabeth was still caked with blood, and he noticed several tears in her robes. Part of her hair was even singed. He did not like the reminders of the previous evening. He briefly entertained the idea of placating her with a lie, but abandoned it quickly. He was determined to be entirely honest. "I have," he said finally.

"Oh," Elizabeth said smally. She turned her face down to gaze at her hands uncomfortably for a moment. "I'm sorry about your robes," she said finally.

In the process of closing his book, Darcy was reminded of the fact that several layers about his shoulder were matted together with blood. "It is no matter," he said truthfully. "Whether this particular set of robes can be salvaged or not, I find I am eager to consign them to the fire."

"Your help wasn't necessary," Elizabeth said with a distinct tinge of anger. She was largely occupied with beginning to relieve her pillow of its ruined case. "I had a strategy to deal with him, you know."

"Oh?" Darcy asked, truly curious how this marvelous creature had thought to escape the trap that had been laid out for her.

"I knew he would want me to see his face," she said. "I was just about to launch another attack. He thought he'd won. It was the perfect chance to strike."

"I do not think he was so unprepared as you would like to believe, Miss Bennet," Darcy calmly countered. "Please, let me," he said, rising from his seat to assist Elizabeth's efforts.

"I'm perfectly capable, thank you," Elizabeth said shortly.

Darcy recognized the familiar sensation of exasperation with Elizabeth's stubbornness, but he conquered it with a deep breath. "I thought you might prefer to ask after a bath from Madam Pomfrey," he suggested.

"I can bathe well enough in my dormitory," Elizabeth answered, beginning to ball up the sheets.

"Madam Pomfrey has not yet released you, nor is she likely to," Darcy said.

"I have classes to get to," said Elizabeth.

"Dumbledore and McGonagall are in firm agreement that you will not be attending class for several days."

Elizabeth's back went rigid and she turned slowly to look at Darcy. "Is this your doing?" she asked dangerously. "Were you so worried that poor Lizzy Bennet would be overwhelmed by the event you managed to convince McGonagall I would need a few days to regain my sensibilities?"

Darcy clasped his hands behind his back and looked to the ceiling as he considered how to best reply to this assault.

"Rest assured, Mr. Darcy, I am doing perfectly well! I shall be right as rain as soon as I am able to clean myself up and put on a fresh set of robes. I am perfectly capable of meeting whatever speculation I may be confronted with, and have no fear of coming upon Malfoy. I rather imagine he and I have some things to discuss! I do _not_ need to be hidden away!"

"If anyone was able to bring Minerva McGonagall around to their way of thinking, Miss Bennet, it would be you, not me," Darcy said finally. "No, I did not have anything to do with the decision to keep you in the hospital wing, though I must say I do like the idea."

Elizabeth snorted in anger and turned her back firmly on Darcy.

"Ah, Bennet, you're up," said Pomfrey, striding from her office. "Leave the bed be, girl. Your youngest sister will be bringing you a change of clothes before she goes down to breakfast, and Miss Weasley's already said she'll bring your bag by when she comes to check on Mr. Weasley. There's a bath ready for you in the room off my office. Go get yourself cleaned up."

Elizabeth was not so foolish as to fight with Madam Pomfrey. With tightly clamped lips, she made a flat-footed progression across the wing and closed the indicated door none-too-gently behind her.

"Go on then, Darcy," said Madam Pomfrey, waving her wand at the mess of bed clothes Elizabeth had made. "You need to change, yourself. Breakfast will open in just fifteen minutes, so you'd better hurry."

"I do not intend on going anywhere, Madam," said Darcy firmly.

Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" she challenged.

"Trusted though you may be, Madam, you will be busy throughout the day caring for whoever walks through those doors. I understand Mr. Julian Weasley to be under your charge, already. I would not see Miss Elizabeth at risk again because you are so diligent in your duties," Darcy tried to say tactfully.

Madam Pomfrey's other eyebrow rose to meet the first. "Have you consulted any others in coming to this decision?"

"No," Darcy answered simply.

"I do think Professor Flitwick would be exceedingly interested in all this," said Pomfrey lightly. She made no other comments, simply sent the bed clothes to a hamper in the corner with a flick of her wand and retreated to her office.

Darcy looked down at his soiled robes. He was, indeed, determined not to go anywhere, but he needed a fresh set of clothes. Perhaps Julian would be released soon, and Darcy could get word to Higgins or another roommate through him.

Flitwick emerged through one of the fireplaces in the large room before Darcy had time for further contemplation. "Well?" the short man said without preamble.

"I'm staying with Miss Elizabeth, sir," Darcy said unwaveringly.

Flitwick scrutinized Darcy for several moments, then shrugged. "Consider yourself away to Pemberley on urgent business, as far as other students are concerned. I'll ask Higgins to throw a few of your things together."

"Thank you, Professor," said Darcy genuinely. He had expected more of a fight to be made. "I will keep up on whatever work I miss."

"I don't doubt it," said Flitwick. He started to turn back to the fireplace, but reconsidered long enough to caution Darcy, "It's a dangerous game you're playing."

"I consider the prize worth the risk," Darcy answered.

Flitwick threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace and disappeared back to his office. Feeling as though things were finally somewhat settled, Darcy rolled his neck several times, hearing and feeling multiple satisfying pops.

Lydia Bennet slipped through the doors of the hospital wing and looked completely surprised to find Darcy there.

"Good morning, Miss Lydia," Darcy said politely.

"Darcy," Lydia answered after recovering herself. She looked around the wing before devoting anymore of her attention to him. "Where is my sister?"

"Bathing," Darcy answered. "Madam Pomfrey set it up just off her office."

Lydia strode past Darcy without another word. Failing to knock, she boldly entered Madam Pomfrey's office. As she passed through a second door, Darcy heard Elizabeth's faint and scandalized cry of "Lydia!" He allowed himself to chuckle at Lydia's antics. True, they might not be considered polite, but he was able to recognize Lydia's eagerness to see Elizabeth for herself, and her refusal to take the word of anyone else regarding her sister's state.

It was several minutes before Lydia emerged. She made her way straight to Darcy and fearlessly stood toe-to-toe with him.

"I may not be able to control what you do, Mr. Darcy," Lydia said hotly, "but if you hurt my sister in any way, you _will_ answer to me!"

Darcy looked at the fierce girl before him and solemnly informed her that he had no intention of harming her elder sister.

"And I'll have you know," said Lydia just before she opened the doors of the hospital wing to make her exit, "the only reason I am not forcing you to leave with me is that Charles insisted a competent dueler ought to be keeping watch over Lizzy while she recovers."

Darcy considered himself properly warned by a member of Elizabeth's family and was pleased to know that all her sisters, even the one he had thought to be the silliest, would look out for her wellbeing. Such thoughts allowed him to resettle with the potions book with a great deal of ease.

"You do not need to be late for class on my account, Mr. Darcy. Madam Pomfrey has also assured me I am going nowhere, so there is no point in you dallying about."

Darcy looked up from his book to see Elizabeth stride past him, digging through the bag of clothes Lydia had brought her as she went. Though he could feel the frustration rolling off her, his breath was taken away by her appearance. Her hair was wet and tumbled freely down her back. Her feet were bare. Her clean scent wafted behind her. Her skin was radiantly clean, if still paler than usual.

Darcy had finally rallied himself enough to make a reply, but was prevented by Madam Pomfrey coming out of her office at the same time as Phoebe entered the wing. The matron made a fuss of examining Julian, plying him with food, and then declaring him well enough for class. Phoebe made quite an impressive show of giving Elizabeth her school bag and gave Mr. Darcy an encouraging wink when Elizabeth was distracted.

Madam Pomfrey sternly ordered Julian not to strain his still-tender arm, then released him to Phoebe's care and retreated to her office, closing the door behind her just as the Weasleys made their exit.

"Off you go, sir," said Elizabeth airily. She had settled herself, legs crossed, on her bed while Darcy was preoccupied with Julian's dismissal. They were now alone in the wing. Darcy had a sneaking suspicion Madam Pomfrey would be rather hard of hearing for the duration of the coming conversation.

Darcy drew a deep breath to brace himself, knowing the next several minutes would be exceedingly trying. "I am not going anywhere," he said factually, then flipped a page in his book and turned his gaze toward it.

"I do not need my every move watched!"

Darcy closed his book, set his face to a neutral expression, and gave Elizabeth his undivided attention as she raged at him for at least ten minutes complete. When she stood with her lips tightly pursed, brows drawn together, and hands on her hips, looking at him to make the next move, he responded quite calmly. "Everything you have said is true. You do _not_ need someone fluttering about acting as a nanny, and I know better than most that you are capable of handling yourself."

"Then _leave_," Elizabeth said exasperatedly.

"No."

"Why?" Elizabeth snarled.

"Just because you _can_ handle whatever may be thrown your way on your own does not mean that you _have_ to do so," Darcy patiently explained. "Please allow me the honor of providing you some relief, some time free from unnecessary worry. Please allow me the privilege of lightening your burden."

Elizabeth was well and truly surprised by his response. In fact, she said not a word for at least a full minute.

"Why?" she asked again, this time at a breathless whisper.

Darcy inhaled carefully. He wanted to simply let the words spill from his mouth in a rush and be done with the vulnerability, but he forced himself to speak clearly at a manageable speed. "Because I genuinely care about you, Elizabeth. I expect nothing in return. _Nothing," _he repeated emphatically. He locked gazes with her for a moment before allowing himself to blink. "A woman such as you, that is constantly at work to make others comfortable no matter their level of social unease, as evidenced by my own sister's attachment to you, deserves some time free of any concern or obligation. I am determined to see you have the chance at it.

"So, Miss Bennet, you may argue all you wish, rage all you wish, stomp your feet and throw things, for all I care, but I will not be made to leave this room while you still have to watch your back for fear of another student attacking you again," Darcy finished firmly. He crossed one ankle over the opposite knee, opened his book back up, and devoted what he hoped appeared to be all his attention to it.

After a few moments of silence, Elizabeth resettled herself on her bed. Darcy heard her dig through her bag for a time, then the scratching of a quill alternating with the flipping of pages. When he believed her to be sufficiently engrossed in her work, he risked glancing up at her, though his face stayed turned toward the book in his lap. Her brows were furrowed, but Darcy was pleased to note it was from concentration on her task rather than stress at her situation.

* * *

Once Darcy had finished his speech, Elizabeth absolutely threw herself into her Herbology homework. She did not want to analyze all he had said. She supposed she could not force him to leave, and so chose to ignore him as best as possible while waiting for the consequences of skipping class to befall him.

When Elizabeth finished Herbology, the niggling thought that she did not really want Darcy to leave, nor to get in trouble for staying with her, began vying for more and more of her attention. As she began working on an Astronomy chart, some of her mind was able to process the time from last evening to the present moment. Eventually, she was forced to admit to herself that part of her, a larger part than she cared for, was grateful to Darcy for his steadfast attention and quick thinking.

Had Darcy slept, or had he kept watch over her all night? Had he sustained any injuries in fighting off Malfoy? What had happened to Malfoy? Did Darcy have plans to get a fresh set of clothes? How would the families of the two young men react to the whole situation, considering their marital ties? Would she, being in possession of the worst luck in the world, come to bear responsibility for another family estrangement? How long had she clung to him like a child last night?

Elizabeth felt herself blush violently at the thought. At the time, she had simply given in to impulse. To be carried so easily had been a long-forgotten comfort. She had felt safe, wrapped in Darcy's strong arms, for the first time in _months_. She was determined not to mention it to anyone, but she had rather enjoyed the sensation and hoped to have that comfort again at some point in her life. Perhaps, one day, she might actually marry and be held by her husband in such a fashion frequently.

Knowing herself to be heading into dangerous waters, Elizabeth sought escape from her own mind. She quickly decided to alleviate some of her curiosity. "Has Madam Pomfrey checked you over?" she asked Darcy as she waved her wand at her Astronomy chart to dry the ink.

"I managed to escape the ordeal without any injury," Darcy answered. Hid eyes flicked up from his book only briefly. "Thank you for your concern."

Elizabeth felt her lips pull in a frown. She wanted answers, true enough, but she also wanted conversation. Before she could ask him anymore questions, the fireplace nearest them flashed green and a small trunk appeared.

"Ah, how good of you, Higgins, Flitwick," Darcy said, seemingly to himself, as he rose to grab the trunk. He flipped it open to inspect the contents, nodding in satisfaction. He then straightened and looked around the wing.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked as Darcy began drawing curtains around all the beds.

"I intend to change," said Darcy, "but I'll not have your precise location become so easily known while I'm at the task."

Elizabeth felt she should be angry, but had to manufacture the sullen quality of her tone as she said, "I think I just might remain unbothered for the few minutes it will take you to excuse yourself, sir."

"That is likely," said Darcy, drawing the curtain of the bed nearest her. He placed his hand on the hangings surrounding her as he said, "However, I am not willing to risk your safety by failing to take this simple precaution. Please lay back, or the sun will cast a shadow and expose you."

Elizabeth waited until she heard Darcy's footsteps begin to retreat before she did, in fact, lay flat on the mattress. She wanted to be upset with him. She wanted to yell at him, tell him to leave her alone. And yet, she could not stir herself to action.

As she stared at the ceiling, she examined her feelings more closely and finally admitted that Darcy had been right. She could very well protect herself, but she was so very tired of doing so. She was so tired of having to find solutions for everything. Tired of taking blame. Tired of being responsible for those whose care really ought to be the purview of another. Tired of always having to be strong, even when she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball.

Sure, she was able to confide in Jane, but Jane's priority was becoming Bingley, and Lizzy could not blame her for it. She would always love and trust Jane, but realized consciously for the first time that she could no longer cling to the rock that was her older sister. Perhaps she had recognized it on some level a while ago, but had not let it surface. Perhaps it was another reason for her pervading foul mood. Without Jane, who would she turn to? Her friends and other sisters were wonderful and supportive, true enough, but they did not understand her quite like Jane did. They were not her partner in everything.

Lizzy was tired of being tired. If Darcy wanted to watch her back for a few hours, she decided she would let him. After all, he had proved himself a capable protector several times over.

* * *

**Author's Note**

-chanting- Progress! Progress! Progress! Progress! Yay Lizzy and Darcy!

So this one time I almost burned my house down because I forgot to clean out my oven after some stuff dripped in it, then I set it to cook my dinner and... well... yeah. Adulting like a pro. Go me. Anyway, that's my reason for posting later than I usually do!

Please share with me your thoughts on this update!


	22. Chapter 22

Darcy returned from changing and panicked when he saw no movement from Elizabeth's bed. He ripped back the curtains, desperately hoping she had not escaped the wing, and breathed an impressive sigh of relief when he saw she had fallen asleep. He left the hangings partially open and fell back into his chair, then ran a hand he had not realized was shaking over his face.

Again, Elizabeth did not look at peace. Her fists were balled in the sheets and her brows were tightly drawn together. All the same, Darcy supposed she was better off sleeping fitfully than not sleeping at all. When she quickly turned her head, he carefully pulled her hair out of her face so she could breathe without obstruction. Satisfied she was as comfortable as possible, Darcy conjured a small table for himself, pulled his books that Higgins had thrown into his trunk out, and set to work on his assignments.

Several hours passed before Bingley escorted Kitty into the wing.

Kitty rushed over immediately and flung back the curtains surrounding Elizabeth's bed. "Why do you just lay there, Lizzy?" she asked. "Come now, sit up. I shall stay here through lunch to keep you entertained."

As Kitty clambered into bed with Elizabeth, Darcy felt himself frown. How long had Elizabeth been awake? Had she just been staring blankly ahead, that horribly despondent face he had seen just a few times firmly in place?

Bingley cleared his throat, then gestured off to the side when Darcy looked over.

"How bad is it?" Darcy asked lowly as he and Bingley walked to the opposite end of the wing.

"Malfoy's been suspended. Pending a hearing, he will be expelled. Dumbledore could do it without the hearing, but I suspect he wants to follow social niceties to avoid unnecessary scandal. Malfoy's wand's been taken in for inspection," Bingley whispered.

"Good," Darcy growled. "But what about everyone else? What do they know?"

"Jane was able to confer with Jo, Phoebe, and Zebulon at breakfast. As far as everyone is concerned, Lizzy fell ill again from trying to do too much at once," said Bingley.

Darcy gave a single nod and began pacing a tight circle.

"Dumbledore's been at the Ministry most of the day," Bingley continued. "I'm not quite sure where McGonagall's gone, but she cancelled all her morning classes."

Darcy waved off the additional information. "What's the reaction to Malfoy's suspension?"

"It was done quietly," Bingley answered promptly. "Slughorn handled it. You know how good he is at soothing people's nerves. No one is talking much of it."

"So it may seem," Darcy said darkly. "When was Malfoy pulled? At breakfast?"

"Slughorn fetched him from the dormitories."

"_When?_" Darcy insisted.

"Just before breakfast, I believe."

Darcy raked his hand through his hair. "Things are not as calm as they seem, then. Malfoy had time to tell others what happened. His friends will know what is going on. They'll be reporting to him. Might even continue his work for him, depending on what he offered."

Bingley's eyes hardened. "I hadn't thought of that."

"You're privileged to have not dealt with Malfoy quite as much as I have," Darcy said bitterly.

"What do you suggest doing?" Bingley asked.

Darcy paused pacing, looked skyward, and sighed heavily. He provided Bingley a short list of names he thought most likely to carry on in Malfoy's stead. "I think you must share this information with Jane, Josephine, Phoebe, and Zebulon. Between the lot of us, we can keep a close eye on these threats. Mary, Kitty, and Lydia should be looked after very carefully. With Elizabeth up here, a secondary target might do just as well."

"Silas and Albert will help too," said Bingley with a nod. "Jo might have another trustworthy name to add. I'll check with her."

"And Bingley?" Darcy said as Bingley made to turn away. "Have you given up Netherfield yet?"

Bingley shook his head. "I've decided to keep it at least until Jane and I marry. If the Bennet girls return to Longbourn, I want to be nearby."

"Excellent," sad Darcy. "Perhaps you might prevail upon the Hursts to return there. I am glad Malfoy is not here at Hogwarts, but that does make him more dangerous, to a degree. He might seek his retribution on Mr. and Mrs. Bennet."

Bingley's eyes widened. "You think him that – "

"I do," said Darcy with conviction.

Bingley's face became hard as stone. "I'll write to Louisa and Reggie immediately. They'll be on their way at first light tomorrow, so long as Louisa can stomach the journey."

"Thank you, Charles," Darcy said, breathing a sigh of relief.

"No need to thank me, Darcy," said Bingley. "I'm just as invested in the future of the Bennets as you are.

"Now, have you had an opportunity to sleep?" Bingley asked.

Darcy started at the sudden change in topic. "I have not."

"Silas is on break after lunch. I'll return now and fill him in on everything. He will come to relieve you in half an hour," said Bingley. "While he is here, you will lay claim to one of these beds and rest."

"I – "

"You'll not do anyone any good, Lizzy especially, if you collapse from exhaustion," said Bingley. "Silas will be here shortly." He turned on his heel and walked back to Elizabeth and Kitty without another word.

Darcy made his way over a few moments later, somewhat in a daze. He had not realized how tired he was until Bingley mentioned it.

"…and Professor Sprout said she would like to keep _my_ drawing to use in future classes," Kitty was saying with enthusiasm.

"I'm very impressed, Kitty," Elizabeth said with a weak smile. "Professor Sprout has very exacting standards."

"Everyone's been asking me to check their diagrams for them, now," said Kitty pridefully, drawing herself up taller.

Elizabeth's smile widened just a bit more. "You always have done pretty sketches."

Kitty preened for a moment, basking in her sister's compliment. "Well, I think I've talked long enough," she said. "How have you been passing your time, Lizzy? Are you truly feeling well? I know I should be quite shaken if – "

"I am fine, Kitty, thank you," said Elizabeth with finality. "I would be pleased to hear more about your past week."

"That will have to wait," said Bingley. "I'm afraid, Kitty, I've forgotten some very pressing matters to discuss with someone. It needs to be done now, while everyone's still at lunch and I have the opportunity."

"I know my way down to the Great Hall well enough, Charles," said Kitty with a laugh. "I do not need your escort."

"I promised Jane I would make sure you did not hide away here during your afternoon classes," Bingley said teasingly. "Come. We can return at dinner."

"Jane worries too much," said Kitty with a laugh. She turned back to Lizzy, gave her a hug, and hopped off the bed. "Perhaps Hattie and I will be able to make it out to the greenhouses to grab you some flowers before I return, Lizzy. This wing is so dreadfully dull looking!"

Bingley offered his arm to Kitty, who waved at Lizzy, and was then gone.

Elizabeth seemed to drain of energy the moment the door closed behind her sister. Her eyes dulled, her weak smile slackened to nothing, and bags seemed to develop under her eyes instantaneously.

Darcy hated the empty look on Elizabeth's face. "Is there something I can get for you, Miss Bennet?" he asked gently.

"No," Elizabeth said quietly. She picked up her Transfiguration book and bent her head over it so her still-loose hair obstructed her face from Darcy's view.

A house elf appeared with a tray for both Elizabeth and Darcy. Darcy thought it might do Elizabeth good to be out of her bed for a while, so cleared the table he had conjured for himself and set his tray down on one end. "Would you join me?" he asked, gesturing to the empty end of the table.

Elizabeth shrugged and set her feet over the edge of her bed to get down.

Darcy hurried out of his chair. He grabbed Elizabeth's tray before she could and set it down, then drew her a chair and held it for her. She accepted his chivalry with quiet thanks.

"I trust your sister's visit was pleasant?" Darcy ventured after a few quiet minutes.

"It does please me that Kitty has become so confident in her own abilities," Elizabeth answered. She did not look up from her plate as she did so.

"She seems much changed since the summer."

"Yes," Elizabeth said quietly.

"Improved, I suppose I should have said," Darcy flustered. He was truly concerned by Elizabeth's reticence. "She and your youngest sister."

"Jane and I strategized long ago how we might get them to become sensible young witches," Elizabeth said with a hint of bitterness.

"I congratulate you on your efforts," said Darcy. He knew the cause of Elizabeth's tart tone was that she would rather proper decorum had been enforced by another pair of persons. "Perhaps you and Miss Bennet should convince the Ministry to take you on as military consultants. After managing three fiercely independent younger sisters so well, I should think a few soldiers should prove no challenge at all."

He had hoped to make Elizabeth laugh, but she remained completely somber.

"Jane has planned to work at St. Mungo's in the past," she said. "I am not sure what she hopes to do any longer. If Bingley were to actually purchase an estate, I would think being its mistress would be occupation enough."

"And you?" Darcy dared to ask. He could sense an increased melancholy from Elizabeth at her admission that Jane had not confided future plans to her.

"I am not sure," Elizabeth answered honestly. "I haven't wanted to tie myself down to one thing or another."

Darcy wished Elizabeth would look up from her food. She was not eating it, anyway, merely pushing it around with her fork. "May I ask what some of the options are you're considering?"

Elizabeth shrugged. "Auror. Shopkeeper. Quidditch player. Reporter. Those are a few."

Darcy detected no significant enthusiasm for one answer over another. He thought a moment before saying, "What about being a professor? You're well praised for your tutoring, and you certainly possess the ability to manage others."

At this, Darcy thought he might have seen Elizabeth's lips twitch slightly toward a smile. "Perhaps," she said quietly. "Kitty and Lydia would have to finish their schooling, first."

"Ah, yes, I can well imagine Miss Lydia threatening her classmates constantly with the fact that she held considerable sway with the influential Professor Bennet," Darcy said teasingly. He was well rewarded for his effort, as Elizabeth finally looked up with a spark in her eye.

"She would be sorely disappointed on that score," Elizabeth said with a hint of her usual wit.

Before Darcy could continue to press his advantage, Silas Diggory swept into the hospital wing and descended on the table.

"Merlin's beard, Lizzy!" Silas burst, drawing himself a seat and collapsing into it. "Bingley just told me the news! I'd curse Malfoy into the next century if I could, though I would feel exceptionally sorry for the poor sods saddled with him." He turned to Darcy just long enough to say, "I envy you for being able to cross wands with him!"

Elizabeth's lips narrowed at Silas, and Darcy hurried to intervene before Silas could say something that would truly upset her.

"Malfoy was well in hand by the time I came upon the scene," said Darcy, glancing at Elizabeth to see her cross her arms over her chest and lean back in her seat. "What's done is done, and we're all furious with Malfoy. I don't see the need to continue with this conversation. Why not speak of other things?"

"A fair point," said Silas, "though I doubt you will like my next topic. I'm under strict orders from Bingley to see to it that you go lie down for a few minutes, Darcy."

Darcy considered arguing, but he saw a flicker of concern in Elizabeth's eyes for him, and that convinced him well enough. He thanked Silas for coming, then retreated to another hospital bed, drew the curtains, and almost immediately fell asleep.

* * *

"Well, Lizzy, how shall we pass the time?" Silas asked pleasantly. "I hope you won't be offended if I suggest something outside the realm of academia. I just took a test in Ancient Runes and am desperate for something mindless."

Lizzy stirred herself to behave normally. She knew well enough the true reason for Silas's presence; he was there to keep watch on whoever might walk through the hospital wing doors. He would serve his office well, but still, Lizzy did not feel she could operate without pretention like she had with Darcy. With Silas, she needed to pretend all was well.

"Have you any cards, then?" Lizzy asked. She recognized her tone sounded bright and was thankful for it, for her mood certainly did not match.

Silas dug through his bag until retrieving a well-worn deck. "A game of war?" he asked. "That is just about the right level of mental effort I wish to use at the moment."

Lizzy heard herself laugh. "You must be spent, indeed!"

Silas confirmed he was and began recounting his exam as he shuffled, then dealt.

"I thought you wanted mindless chatter, Silas, not to relive your harrowing morning," Lizzy said smartly as she and he began flipping cards.

"You are completely correct, Lizzy," said Silas. "What shall we talk of, then? I find I'm unable to come up with other topics."

"Tell me of your new nephew," Lizzy suggested.

Silas was only too happy to do so, and Lizzy was pleased to hear tales of the infant's antics and the devotion of his family.

"My sister is determined she doesn't want to go back to her full-time job," said Silas as he restacked his cards. He had nearly two thirds of the deck in hand, leaving Lizzy at a decided disadvantage. "She says she might take on a few students that are receiving their education from private tutors. She's got quite an affinity for charms, you know."

"That would be marvelously convenient for her," said Lizzy. "She would be able to determine when she worked, and so continue to spend a great deal of time with her son."

"She would also be able to choose _who_ she worked with," said Silas with a snort. "I'll have to warn her not to take on Malfoy."

"Take on Malfoy?" Lizzy asked sharply. She felt cards crumple in her hand. Why would Malfoy need tutors to complete his education?

"He's suspended," said Silas conversationally, flipping another card. "Your turn, Lizzy."

Lizzy hurriedly set a card down as her heart began to pound. "Suspended?" she choked out.

"Of course," said Silas, pushing the two cards on the table toward Lizzy and putting another down. "Dumbledore couldn't very well keep him here after he attacked you. No, Malfoy's been suspended. Expelled, too, if there's any sense in whoever sits on the panel for his hearing."

Lizzy slammed her cards on the table and put her head between her hands. This could not be happening! She had thought to keep the matter between herself and Malfoy; they would settle things somehow, likely though another duel, and everything would fall back into some sort of normal. Now that he was being publicly called out things were much, much messier. Malfoy believed himself above the law, and to be subjected to it would infuriate him. Lizzy thought she could predict how he might react very well.

She had been a fool to submit to being made to stay in the hospital wing, and even more of one to allow herself to think she could relax and let things simmer for a bit before addressing them again.

Lizzy felt herself pulling at her hair as her chest tightened. Malfoy was not stupid enough to think he would be able to get at her again with any ease. There were plenty of other people he could go after, however. How was she going to keep her sisters from harm? Her parents? How would he make them suffer because she had the audacity to survive her encounter with him unscathed?

"Lizzy?" Silas asked carefully, and gently touched her shoulder.

Lizzy leapt out of her seat and heard it fall back against the ground. "I want to see Dumbledore," she snapped. "This cannot happen! Malfoy must be brought back, and we'll all pretend nothing's happened. This _has_ to stay between me and him!" Her fingers curled into fists as she began pacing.

"Lizzy, come on, now, be reasonable!" Silas chided. "Malfoy behaved as a criminal, and so he shall be treated as one! This will free you of him!"

"It most certainly will _not!_" Lizzy shouted. She felt as if someone had put her in a corset and was tightening the strings mercilessly. She could barely breathe.

"Diggory, isn't it time for you to return to class?"

How could all this be undone? How could Elizabeth fix the situation to protect her sisters from harm?

"I still have –" Silas stopped abruptly and his tone changed from nonchalance to contrite obedience. "Yes, you're right, Darcy, I should go."

Elizabeth began wringing her hands as she stomped. She barely heard the door close behind Silas.

"Elizabeth."

Perhaps she could speak with Magical Law Enforcement and convince them she did not want the matter to go through the courts. Surely, as the innocent party in all this, they would accede to her wishes.

"Elizabeth," said Darcy again, slightly louder.

What if they wouldn't listen? What if they put Malfoy through a trial, anyway? She supposed she could try to arrange for Mary, Kitty, and Lydia to stay at Hogwarts over breaks, that way Malfoy would not have any sort of access to them until they were able to use their wands freely. She would train them in dueling, in the meantime.

"Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth stopped her furious pacing abruptly, her shoulders being held gently, yet firmly, by Mr. Darcy.

"You are going to hurt yourself if you do not calm down," Darcy advised.

Elizabeth ripped herself free of Darcy's grasp. "Calm down?" she asked frantically. "I most certainly will _not_ calm down! Can't you see how Malfoy will take all this? He will blame me for his misfortunes! He knows it'll be difficult to get at me again, so he'll go for my family! I may not like him, but I recognize he has a great many friends and a good deal of influence. How am I supposed to keep him from harming my family in retaliation for being so publicly denounced?"

Elizabeth found herself quite overwhelmed by the magnitude of the situation. She collapsed on the floor, setting her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands.

"This should _not_ be happening!" Elizabeth moaned. "I should be dealing with this _privately_."

"Elizabeth."

Elizabeth could not resist the soft beckon, and she exposed her face to find Darcy had set himself on his knees in front of her.

"Your friends are looking out for your sisters," Darcy said gently. "Josephine, Phoebe, and Zebulon are going to keep a very close eye on Lydia. You know them well enough. They'll see her to every one of her classes, sit with her at meals, go wherever she goes with her friends. Jane and Bingley will do the same for Kitty and will enlist Albert's help. Mary is in possession of a very fine advanced warning system and will be watched over by Silas. I intend to ask Higgins and Leah to tend her also."

"My parents," Elizabeth heard herself croak.

"Bingley is sending the Hursts back to Netherfield," Darcy answered. "I intend to ask a few of my own servants in possession of wands to go with them to be of assistance. You are not alone in seeing to the safety of your family."

Elizabeth shuddered powerfully. When she continued to tremble, she was shocked to discover she had started to cry. The realization made the crying escalate to full on sobs.

Strong arms wrapped around Elizabeth and she leaned into the embrace. She found absolutely no desire to object when she was pulled into Darcy's lap. He began to rock her slightly, one arm holding her in place and the other hand occupied with stroking her hair. He alternated between gently shushing her and assuring her she and her family would be looked after.

Elizabeth was not sure how long she sat in Darcy's arms, but by the time she had spent her tears, she was limp with exhaustion. She raised her head and pushed against Darcy's chest to indicate he could release her, but he did not.

"I am feeling much better now, Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said hoarsely. "You can let me go."

"I can," said Darcy. He tucked her head back against his shoulder and set his chin on top of it. "That does not mean I have to."

Elizabeth found she did not want to be let go, either, but felt she had taken enough of Darcy's time. She pulled back enough to be able to look at his face. "Thank you for your kindness," she said as steadily as she was able. "You do not need to feel obligated to continue."

"I am not obligated," said Darcy, his eyes intense as they locked onto hers. "I would very much like to be of assistance to you in whatever way I can."

"Why?" Elizabeth breathed.

Darcy's eyes softened and a very slight smile came to his face. "As I said before, Elizabeth. I genuinely care about you. I want you to be well. I want you to be happy. I want you to be safe."

Elizabeth did not realize until that moment just how much she wanted to hear such words from someone, and how welcome they were from Darcy. She knew he meant them. She had seen him care for his sister, seen the way his eyes lit up when he talked about her and how much he shared her pain and discomfort. He did not seek to control Georgiana or bend her to his will. He only wanted her to be content and to provide her every comfort possible. And he wanted to do the same for Elizabeth. Finally, she had clarity regarding Darcy.

Lizzy threw her arms around Darcy's neck and pressed her head against his shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered. She felt herself smile as Darcy's arms wound around her, returning the hug.

* * *

Darcy closed his eyes in contentment and turned his head to bury his face in Elizabeth's curls. He began drawing circles on her back with his thumbs as he reveled in her affection. Had it truly been so simple? Had that truly been all she needed, all she wanted? Had she truly felt so alone that such easy, heartfelt assurances and a caring embrace had broken through?

Far too soon, Elizabeth pulled back and sat on her heels. Darcy felt his face split into a smile unbidden as she settled her hair over one shoulder, gave a great sniff, and then looked at him. He saw more tranquility in her countenance now than he had in months.

"I'm making a habit of dirtying your robes, it seems," Elizabeth said thickly after a moment. She gestured to where her face had pressed while she was crying and laughed lightly. Darcy did not think he had ever heard such a pleasing sound. Somehow, it now had a different quality than all the times he had heard it before.

"I find I can tolerate the need to change well enough," Darcy answered easily. "Truly, do you feel as well as you look?"

"As well as I look?" Elizabeth asked with a chuckle. She wiped at her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure every lady looks absolutely radiant after such a session of hysterics as I just experienced. Red eyes and a swollen nose are very becoming."

"You look _relaxed_, Elizabeth," Darcy said, and he meant it. "And you were very entitled to that 'session of hysterics,' as you called it." He stood, then offered his hand to Elizabeth. Once she was on her feet, he did not release her immediately, waiting to see how she would react. She squeezed his hand quickly before letting it go and went to the bag Lydia had brought her earlier.

"Have you any other news to give?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled out a handkerchief and went about trying to set her face to rights.

"You told Silas you wanted to see Dumbledore," said Darcy. "Is that still true?"

"Yes," Elizabeth readily answered. "I want to know exactly what is going to be happening in the coming weeks."

"Then you'll be happy to know Dumbledore intends on coming by after he is through with all his meetings at the Ministry, if I understood him correctly very early this morning."

"You didn't sleep?" Elizabeth asked.

Darcy shook his head.

"You must be exhausted!" Elizabeth exclaimed through a blush.

"I am well enough," Darcy answered. His weariness was worth Elizabeth's safety and current ease.

"When Charles comes back with whatever of my sisters, you are to go lay down," Elizabeth ordered.

"Very well," Darcy replied. He felt his face relax into contentment. Elizabeth was concerned for him.

Darcy settled back at his table, intending to return to his assignments. Surely Elizabeth was now tired and wanted to rest. He could entertain himself well enough and was happy to leave Elizabeth with the opportunity to recover.

"Mr. Darcy."

"Hm?" Darcy said, looking up from his work to meet Elizabeth's eyes. His features began to tighten as he noticed the discomfort on Elizabeth's face. She had her hands behind her back, and he felt confident she was fidgeting with them a great deal.

Elizabeth started trying to speak, but had to clear her throat before she succeeded in making any sound. "Where does this leave us?"

"Pardon?" Darcy asked quickly. He felt hope swell in his chest and tried to tamp it down, fearful of such hope being disappointed.

Elizabeth looked very uncomfortable, indeed. After a moment longer, however, she seemed to strengthen her resolve. She met Darcy's gaze and her hands came to her sides. "We have shared quite an eventful twenty-four hours and have had some other interactions of note before that. I find I am curious to know more about you and explore some new understandings I have developed. So, I ask again: where does this leave us?"

Darcy had no recollection of rising from his seat and moving to stand exactly before Elizabeth, and rather closer than would be considered acceptable. He looked down into her face and desperately wished they could be off to get married that instant. He controlled the impulse to ask for her hand with herculean difficulty. There were yet obstacles to be overcome before he could be certain of a favorable answer.

"Elizabeth, would you allow me to court you?" Darcy asked with a dry mouth.

Elizabeth's face instantly brightened and her eyes lit with delightful mischief. "Yes, Mr. Darcy, I think I will," she said pertly. She had opened her mouth to make some other witty remark, but Darcy never heard it.

She had said yes! Darcy burst out laughing, then gleefully picked Elizabeth up and spun her in circles, eliciting giggles, before setting her back down and engulfing her in a hug.

"Be careful how you behave, sir, or it will become common knowledge that you are not as formidable as your constant expression would have people believe!" Elizabeth said laughingly, pushing against Darcy to be released.

"People may think whatever the wish, I find I don't care in the slightest," Darcy said with a smile. He tightened his grip as Elizabeth pushed against him again.

"Even if they should try to engage you in tedious talk about the latest fashions?" Elizabeth teased. "Surely, if a man smiles like such a fool at a woman, he must be willing to talk of such frivolous topics! What else could he be interested in, but the most vapid of things?"

Darcy released his grip enough that he could look down at Elizabeth's radiant face. "I hardly think that the man lucky enough to be in possession of _your_ favor could be thought foolish."

Elizabeth blushed prettily, then ducked out of his arms to grab her bag of books. She sat at the table Darcy had drawn and began settling her texts about her. "Who would have thought you to be so skilled at flattery?" she said lightly.

"There are a great many things at which I possess talent that the world does not often get to see," said Darcy smoothly, taking his seat across Elizabeth. "I should be happy to share them with you."

"You will spoil me, Darcy, and make my head grow quite large," Elizabeth laughed.

"I confess I do hope to spoil you thoroughly," Darcy said with a grin. "As for the size of your head, I am confident in the ability of your friends to keep you in check. No, I am determined I shall give you whatever you wish, and hang the consequences in the eyes of society."

Elizabeth smirked and blushed anew at the same time, then suggested working on Defense Against the Dark Arts. Darcy readily agreed and, throughout the next few hours, took advantage of every opportunity he could find to hold Elizabeth's hand, touch knees under the table, and say her name.

* * *

**Author's Note**

They're so flippity-dippin PRECIOUS. Several people have commented on the fact that Lizzy seems a little too bitter in this story. I hope the last couple chapters have shed light on why that is.

Questions? Concerns? Random thoughts? I'd love to know about them. Leave a review!


	23. Chapter 23

Jane and Bingley came to the hospital wing with Mary after dinner.

"Kitty and Lydia wanted to come," said Jane as she perched herself on the end of Lizzy's bed, "but we have some very important things to discuss, and I thought it might be better they went to the library and got some work done."

"Perhaps that's for the best," Lizzy sighed. "We can figure out exactly what to tell them later."

"I think there's something else to tell first," said Mary. Her face looked remarkably like Lizzy's with a smirk and a quirked brow over dancing eyes.

Lizzy glared playfully at Mary, then felt her expression slip to mild shock as Darcy grabbed her hand. She admitted to herself that she had rather enjoyed his attentions when they were alone, but had not thought he would continue in the presence of others.

"Elizabeth has agreed to court me," Darcy said with no shortage of pride.

Lizzy felt her heart warm as Bingley offered his enthusiastic congratulations and Jane quickly wrapped her in a hug.

"I am so very pleased for you, Lizzy," Jane whispered. "He's a good man, and you'll only improve each other."

"It is just a courtship, Jane," Lizzy said into her sister's ear with a chuckle.

"I may not be Mary, Lizzy, but I know you well enough to be able to predict the results in this instance," said Jane. She released Lizzy, raised an eyebrow, and then moved on to express her happiness to Darcy.

Lizzy felt herself blush violently. She did not think she could possibly get redder. Not until Darcy looked at her questioningly, anyway. Then she was quite certain she could have melted anything brought near her face.

"Tell us what has been going on today!" Lizzy cried enthusiastically, eager to be distracted and have attention drawn away from the novelty of her courtship.

Jane and Mary exchanged sly smiles, renewing Lizzy's blush that had only just started to fade, as Bingley delved into the details of the day.

"Is something wrong?" Darcy asked lowly, coming to Lizzy's side as Bingley carried on and Jane began to clear the table.

Lizzy easily broke into a smile as she met Darcy's concerned eyes. "I am perfectly well."

The five students crowded around the small table and chatted amicably for several minutes until Dumbledore and McGonagall entered the room.

"Have you news for us, Professor Dumbledore?" Lizzy asked after exchanging pleasantries and assuring her professors she was suffering no lingering effects of the curse that had been cast on her.

"The Malfoys have been most sincerely urged by the Ministry to stay in the area, and for Ursus Malfoy to remain at home as much as can be managed," said Dumbledore. He drew his own comfy-looking chair and joined the gathering of students before connecting his fingertips and beginning to look over them. "Have you written a statement yet, Miss Elizabeth?"

"I have not," Lizzy sheepishly confessed.

"It must be done, and tonight," said Dumbledore. "In an hour or so, a representative from Magical Law Enforcement will come by to examine your wands, Miss Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy. Would it be safe for me to assume they have not been much in use today?"

"Very safe, Professor," Lizzy answered.

"Good," Dumbledore said.

"When is the hearing to be, Professor?" Darcy asked. His face had become hardened.

"It is, as of yet, unscheduled," Dumbledore answered. "The lot of you are mature enough to understand that, with young Mr. Malfoy as the object of the hearing, there is quite a bit of nervous flittering and political games occurring."

"But a hearing will be held?" Darcy insisted.

"I intend to see it done," Dumbledore assured.

"Is there no way to keep this from progressing any further?" Elizabeth asked. She felt her chest growing tight again at the talk of a hearing. "Can it not just be handled quietly and forgotten?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss Elizabeth," said Dumbledore with a mixture of gentleness and firmness. "I will not tolerate an attack on Hogwarts grounds. I understand your predicament, truly, but I cannot allow the incident to go without being properly addressed."

Elizabeth felt her breath quicken. When Darcy took her hand, however, Lizzy immediately relaxed. She did not have to deal with this on her own.

"Now," said Dumbledore, his tone lightening slightly as he adjusted the topic, "as for what shall become common knowledge among the student body, I must say I admire your quick work this morning. I see no reason to hide the truth, however. It will come out soon enough, and it might as well come from the sources directly involved, rather than speculation of others as facts filter their way through various channels."

"The façade is starting to crumble already, anyway," Mary offered.

Lizzy huffed. She did not like the idea of being looked at as a victim again.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Elizabeth, and have done nothing wrong," Darcy assured. "I was advised only hours ago that all blame should rest on Malfoy, and Malfoy alone."

"It is not guilt or shame that I feel," Lizzy bit out.

"When might you allow Lizzy back to class, Professor?" Jane asked, eager to disrupt the tension she could see building on her sister's features.

"Once your wand has been examined, your statement written, and you receive clearance from Madam Pomfrey, I think it will be quite safe for you, Miss Elizabeth, to resume your normal schedule," said Dumbledore.

"I thought you meant to have me hidden away several days yet," Lizzy said shrewdly.

"Excuse the indecision as being the result of an old man's whims," said Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye. He rose from his seat and vanished it with a flick of his wand. "I am glad you are well, Miss Elizabeth. I fear Professors McGonagall and Flitwick would have become quite despondent if any lasting harm had been done to you." He winked conspiratorially as McGonagall muttered under her breath to his side. He bid his students adieu and made his exit.

"Bingley, Darcy, make yourselves scarce," McGonagall said without preamble.

Bingley exchanged a look with Jane, and Darcy with Lizzy, before the pair rose and made their way to the other end of the wing, though they kept their ladies firmly in sight.

McGonagall seated herself in one of the abandoned chairs and looked at the young witches before her. "I know my absence today has been a topic of great interest," she said.

"There has been a good deal of curiosity," Jane confessed.

"Kindly cease your attempts to enter my mind, Miss Mary," McGonagall said shortly, looking to the youngest Bennet in attendance. "I admit to being no great occlumens, and would rather present this information without your assistance."

"I can only promise to try, Professor," Mary said with a blush. "I'm still working on control."

"Where have you been, Professor?" Lizzy asked, though she feared she already knew the answer.

"As your Head of House, the duty to inform your parents of your having been attacked fell to me," McGonagall said flatly. While Lizzy put her face in her hands, the professor continued, "I know you would rather they not know, but it would hardly be right for them to be denied the information. It was a close enough call that I did not send them word about your Quidditch injury. I comforted myself with the knowledge that, if pressed, the whole thing could be explained as simply being the result of a tough game."

Lizzy felt dread building within her. She was not sure she wanted to know the result of McGonagall's interview with her parents.

"Please tell us what happened, Professor," said Jane bravely as she ran her hand across Lizzy's back.

"I met with them both," said McGonagall. A muscle in her jaw twitched before she continued. "They were shocked by the news, I'm sure you can imagine."

A humorless laugh bubbled from Lizzy. Yes, she could well imagine how her parents might have reacted. Mrs. Bennet likely flew into a bout of nerves and alternated between shrieking for Hill to bring her salts, insisting that the attack never should have happened if her daughters had stayed home as she often suggested, and demanding to know if any similar fate had befallen her other "dear girls." Mr. Bennet had probably drawn his brows together and asked for details, then inquired after what was being done to rectify the situation. Upon receiving knowledge that there was nothing for him to do, he likely bid McGonagall a good day and picked up whatever book he had been reading before she had intruded upon him.

"Rather than try to do their words justice, myself," said McGonagall as she began digging through her pocket, "I insisted they write them down."

Lizzy stared at the two letters that were placed on the table before her and her sisters with a slack jaw. Suddenly, she broke into hysterical laughter as she thought of Mr. Bennet and McGonagall staring each other down until her father finally relented and began writing with McGonagall looking over his shoulder. She clutched her sides as she imagined McGonagall's looks of disgust as the professor inspected Mrs. Bennet's ramblings put to ink.

"Lizzy's had a long couple of days, Professor," Mary said uneasily as tears began streaming down her sister's face.

"Yes, that is the explanation, I'm sure," McGonagall said drily. "I feel confident Miss Elizabeth would derive no pleasure from the imaginings, however accurate, of my interview with your parents." The corners of her lips twitched as though she was fighting a smile.

"You must tell me, Professor," Lizzy gasped as she wiped at her face, "if the grooms looked curiously through the windows when Mrs. Bennet started screaming."

"Lizzy!" Jane admonished. She turned to McGonagall before Lizzy could say more. "Is there anything else, Professor?"

"Mrs. Hill sends her regards," McGonagall said as she rose from her seat. "Do reign yourself back in before coming downstairs tomorrow, Miss Elizabeth."

Lizzy promised she would, and McGonagall left.

Darcy and Bingley were quick to rejoin the table. They looked at the envelopes, then took their respective lady's hand.

"Well, I think Lizzy should read them first," said Mary after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

"I don't want to," Lizzy said quickly, pushing the letters away with her free hand.

"No, Mary's right, Lizzy," said Jane.

"If you insist I know the contents, we could very easily read them together," Lizzy countered.

Jane smiled sadly at her sister. "The words are meant for you, Lizzy, whatever they are.

"Come, Charles. While Lizzy reads, we shall start looking over that potion for tomorrow," said Jane, her voice back to normal as she popped out of her chair. "Mary, you brought your bag along. Join us."

Lizzy watched helplessly as her sisters and Bingley made their way across the wing.

"What would you have me do, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked gently.

Lizzy reached toward the letters and was disturbed to see that her hand was shaking. "I – I don't know," she answered as clasped the envelopes.

"I will join your sisters, then, and be available if – "

"No, stay!" Lizzy burst, and impulsively gripped his hand to keep him from rising any further from his chair.

Darcy resettled his weight. "I'll get back to work, then, unless otherwise directed," he said.

Lizzy felt her breath hitch as she looked at the familiar writing of both her parents. Which letter should she deal with first? Could she tolerate the reactions of her sisters and of Professor McGonagall if she were to simply rise and throw the letters in the fire, rather than read them?

Darcy's hand entered her vision and grabbed the two letters. He shuffled them behind his back and then put one in her hands and the other on the opposite side of the table.

Lizzy examined her mother's writing on the address of the envelope. Deciding to just get the business done and over with, she gritted her teeth and ripped through the seal.

Mrs. Bennet's letter was full of the empty words of a nervous and thoughtless woman. After denouncing Lizzy's attacker as the worst kind of scoundrel, she apologized for her treatment of her second daughter. Lizzy did not feel the slightest bit of comfort from reading the words as she did not believe them. Bitterly, Lizzy wondered if her mother would have written that such an attack served her right for throwing away an opportunity to secure her family's future if McGonagall had not been present. Mrs. Bennet went on to say that she expected Lizzy would return for Easter with her sisters and closed by inquiring after Lydia.

Lizzy tossed the letter away from herself with a scoff.

"Is it as you expected?" Darcy asked.

Lizzy breathed heavily as she considered how to respond. She could very well say nothing and felt confident that Darcy would not press her for details, nor mention the letter ever again. As she considered the honesty and care he had displayed to her, however, she realized she wanted to give him the same. She picked up the letter and slammed it in front of Darcy. He looked to her questioningly and waited until she nodded before picking up the writing.

Hardly any time passed before the haughty mask of indifference Lizzy had come to recognize as a defense slipped onto Darcy's face. When he was done, he simply set the letter in front of her and made to turn back to the essay he had been working on.

"No, you don't get to get out of it that easily," Lizzy said.

"Please read your other letter, Elizabeth."

"And then?"

"And then I shall do as you wish," Darcy promised. He grabbed her hand and kissed it quickly before picking up his quill again.

Lizzy was so upset with the whole situation she was unable to enjoy the open affection Darcy displayed. She opened her father's letter and felt all the resentment she had been fighting come to the surface.

Mr. Bennet wrote that he was truly sorry Lizzy had been ambushed and that he wished he was able to offer her some comfort. He went on to say he knew Lizzy was aware of the letter Mrs. Bennet had sent Jane, and the letter Jane had sent to him in return. He had been deliberating over a response for quite some time and declared he might as well put the response to Lizzy, as Jane would see it anyway. He claimed regret for allowing them to leave so abruptly and for not interfering more forcefully on Lizzy's behalf. He promised he would make sure Mrs. Bennet never mentioned the incident with Mr. Collins again and begged _all_ his daughters would return to Longbourn for the next holiday.

Lizzy felt her resentment crack somewhat at reading the expressions of remorse from her father, but it would not go away completely. What he was offering was too little, too late. She believed he would _try_ to curb Mrs. Bennet's exuberance, but was not hopeful he would maintain the effort for long before giving it up as hopeless. She stared blankly at the pages before her as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.

"Elizabeth?"

Lizzy nodded and continued to stare at the spot where the letter had been, even after Darcy had taken it.

"Shall I bring these over to Jane and Mary for you?" Darcy asked in a cool voice after he had finished.

Lizzy nodded again and, while Darcy took the letters and moved away, abandoned her chair to go gaze out the window as she processed. She was aware that Darcy joined her, but was relieved he did not try to engage her in any conversation just yet.

"I feel I should write to Charlotte and tell her I won't be visiting for Easter, after all," Lizzy said when she finally felt ready.

"I believe you would be perfectly justified in maintaining the trip," Darcy answered. His façade was still in place.

"You're hiding."

"Please let me for just a little longer," Darcy requested.

Lizzy shrugged. "I will never be comfortable again at Longbourn, and I shall never look at either of my parents the same way," she said. She was less surprised than she felt she ought to have been at speaking so freely with Darcy. "I feel I can't trust them, and do not really want to try fostering a close relationship, even with my father, as I once had."

At her side, Darcy nodded mutely.

"All the same, I do not want to be the cause of a rift in my family," Lizzy said decidedly. "I will go back for my sisters. It will never again be home for me, but that does not mean I should take that from them."

"And Mr. and Mrs. Bennet?" Darcy asked, still using his well-practiced tone of indifference. But Lizzy knew better.

"I will be polite and act much the same as I ever did, at least in front of company," Lizzy answered, "but I will not seek them out, nor ask for any sort of permission for whatever I might wish to do. They believed me cast off for good, and so I will behave as a fully independent young woman.

"There, now will you come out?" Lizzy asked.

Darcy shut his eyes tightly and seemed to fight with himself for several moments before he looked at Lizzy again. His eyes were filled with incredible fury, yet he took Lizzy's hands tenderly and kissed them both.

Lizzy squeezed Darcy's hands in appreciation and encouragement. He breathed heavily for a few more moments before attempting speech.

"I'm just so _angry_, Elizabeth," Darcy said finally.

"I know," Lizzy came back with. "I remember what you said about Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in London, when I was trying to write my mother."

"And all that still stands," Darcy said. "Now there's an extra layer, however. They don't deserve you, Elizabeth, and I don't understand how it is that someone like you came from such parents."

"Deserve me?" Lizzy asked. She raised a brow and could not resist the opportunity to tease. "Come, Darcy, you of all people know how dreadfully frustrating and headstrong I can be. No, I think my birth to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet was quite carefully thought out."

Darcy's grip on her hands increased dramatically and any vestiges of an attempt to make light of the situation fled Lizzy's mind instantly.

"You are not frustrating and headstrong," Darcy said fiercely. "You are cautious and defensive, and I should think that is the result of your parents' treatment. As they are responsible for your development of those characteristics, they have no place to be upset over them. No, your parents do not deserve you, Elizabeth, because you are still willing to be civil to them for the sake of you sisters when you could very easily ruin them in the eyes of their society by exposing their cruelty and then never deal with them again."

Lizzy blinked several times as she tried to process what Darcy had said with such conviction. "Even if what you say is true – "

"It is."

"Even if what you say is true," Lizzy started again, "I will not throw away the opportunity to mend the break." Lizzy felt nervous to voice her next thought, but was determined not to hold back. "Even if you knew your father had done something less than honorable, Darcy, wouldn't you want to speak to him again?" she asked gently.

The longing look in Darcy's eyes was answer enough.

"As I said, I can never trust them again, but they are my parents and I would have them be some part of my life," Lizzy concluded.

"And as _I_ said," Darcy said hoarsely, "they do not deserve you."

"They have finished," Lizzy said, glancing toward her sisters. "Shall we join them?"

The students recongregated around the small table and drew up battle plans for the Easter holidays. It was decided that _all_ the Bennet daughters would return to Longbourn and that Bingley and Darcy would take up residence at Netherfield again.

"I think I would like to keep our attachment a secret in Meryton," Lizzy said quickly to Darcy and then held her breath anxiously.

"I should very much like to show your parents how they should have treated you," Darcy said in a dangerously light tone.

"Think first, Lizzy," Mary quietly cautioned.

Lizzy took a deep breath, rather than spitting out a quick response as she had intended. She did not hide her gaze from Darcy as she considered her next move, though she was aware of Jane and Bingley looking around uncomfortably.

"If you would like, we can tell my father," Lizzy said finally, causing Darcy to nod slightly in approval. She hesitated a moment longer before continuing. "I do not want to deal with my mother's congratulations on snagging such a 'rich, handsome young man,' nor do I want to listen to her advice on how to keep you from losing interest in me."

"I could never lose interest in you," Darcy said quickly. Assurances given, he smirked. "You think me handsome?"

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "I said _she_ would declare you handsome. I am, as of yet, undecided, but I thought I might as well accept your offer."

A wickedly mischievous glint came to Darcy's eyes, but he turned back to the table at large rather than respond.

"How do you intend to keep Kitty and Lydia from blurting out the news?" Jane asked. "They are still young and excitable."

"I will tell them I don't wish to take any attention from you and Bingley," Lizzy readily answered. "That will win Kitty's silence on the matter easily enough. Lydia may require some further convincing, but I believe I can manage in the end."

"Perhaps you might bribe her with the opportunity to spread the news here," Mary suggested.

"Would she want to?" Darcy asked. At Lizzy's inquiring glance, he told her, "Lydia gave me a stern talking to this morning when she saw I was still here."

Lizzy laughed and patted Darcy's arm before turning back to Mary. "I am agreeable to the scheme," she said. She cocked an eyebrow at Darcy. "Do you think you could bear to let someone else make it known to the world that you have attached yourself to me? Once I give Lydia leave to do so, there is no turning back." Lizzy felt a fluttering of anxiety as the words spilled from her mouth. She said them teasingly, but she feared the truth of them.

Darcy's response was to kiss Elizabeth's hand. "I imagine allowing Lydia to lord over the chain of gossip in Hogwarts will rather endear her to me, and perhaps I need not be so fearful she will turn on me."

The tightness in Lizzy's stomach melted away at Darcy's easy reply.

Before much more discussion could be had, the promised representative from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement came. Lizzy and Darcy's wands were weighed and measured, then checked for their most recently cast spells. All this information was put into a rather official looking document, and Lizzy's statement was asked for.

"I shall begin work on that as soon as Mr. Darcy goes to lie down," Lizzy said, turning slightly narrowed eyes toward the man.

"Charles and I both plan to stay here through the night," Jane said before Darcy could object. "You have no leg to stand on, Darcy, so you might as well get to sleep."

Darcy sighed heavily and looked far from happy with the edict issued by the Bennet ladies, but did as he was ordered.

Once certain that Darcy had settled himself, Lizzy sat down at the table and began writing. The Ministry worker pulled a book from her pocket and made herself comfortable, as she was not to leave without Lizzy's report.

When at last Lizzy threw her quill down and the Ministry worker left, Mary offered to stay awake for a time.

"You have all slept much less than I did last night," Mary reasoned. "I can tell how tired you are, Jane, Charles. I may not have any skill at dueling, but I can detect a threat sooner than either of you. I will wake you when I become tired enough, or sooner, on the off chance it proves necessary."

Jane settled herself on the bed next to Lizzy's while Bingley made his way across the wing to bunk by Darcy. Lizzy had made up her mind to start her letter to Charlotte when Mary climbed into her bed, drew the curtains, and placed several spells on them.

"I want to talk to you, Lizzy," Mary declared.

Lizzy found herself feeling nervous. Mary was not known for her delicacy and, as content as Lizzy felt, she knew it was a tenuous thing. She did not want to lose control of herself again.

"Calm down," Mary chided. "I only want to tell you how very pleased I am that you finally stopped being such a thick-headed dunce in relation to Darcy."

Lizzy burst out laughing from the shock of Mary's blunt declaration. She was very grateful Mary had the foresight to soundproof the curtains, or she would have woken Jane.

"Well, Mary, I'm glad you have grown so comfortable with me that you can pay me such a glowing compliment as calling me a thick-headed dunce!"

Mary grinned sheepishly. "Well, you were one."

"You could have helped me along, you know," Lizzy pointed out.

Mary shook his head. "You only would have dug your heels in further, just like you did every time Jo and Phoebe brought it up."

Lizzy groaned and put her face in her hands. Josephine and Phoebe would never let her live this down. They would tease her mercilessly for her courtship.

"Lizzy, I know your insecurities," Mary said quietly.

Lizzy felt her heart catch in her throat and blushed horribly. Of course Mary knew. Mary could see Lizzy's concern that Darcy would grow bored of her, that she could not bring as much to their relationship as he could. Worst of all, Mary could see Lizzy's fear that, if her relationship with Darcy progressed, he would develop much the same attitude toward her that her father had developed toward his wife and daughters.

"I will let Darcy soothe most of your fears away as you get to know each other better," said Mary kindly. "Just know this, Lizzy. I have been able to hear Darcy's thoughts quite clearly since he walked through the doors to be Sorted. He has never been so happy as he has been tonight, and that is because he knows he has you."

"I am glad to hear it," Lizzy said truthfully, "but still – "

"Tell the part of your brain that's been trained by Mama to shut up," Mary snapped, causing Lizzy to start. "Darcy has wanted you for a long time and it just took him a while to stop being such a dunderhead, though not quite as long as you. Lizzy, give him the credit he's earned through his actions with you since the day you met each other in London. He does not attach himself to people lightly. He knows exactly what he's getting into, and rightly believes you are worth it."

Lizzy smiled in open gratitude for a few moments before her teasing nature made a return. "Does this count as you breaking someone's confidence?"

"Hardly," Mary said dully, pulling back the curtains and hopping down from the bed. "All I did was point out the flamboyantly obvious for my excessively stubborn sister."

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ah, the cuteness of Darcy and Lizzy continues along with the frustrations provided by Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. I hope you enjoyed the Mary bit at the end!


	24. Chapter 24

Lizzy, Darcy, Jane, and Bingley all spoke honestly about the attack when they rejoined the student body the next day. News of that scandal, however, was quickly overshadowed by Lydia's tireless and enthusiastic efforts to tell anyone and everyone that Lizzy and Darcy were officially courting.

"Remember, Lydia, you won't be able to tell _anyone_ in Meryton," Lizzy firmly reminded her sister.

"Oh, I won't," Lydia promised. "What a joke it shall be when everyone finally learns after Jane's wedding!"

Lizzy was both pleased and embarrassed by how open Darcy continued to be in his regard for her. He insisted on carrying her books from class to class and frequently held her hand in the halls, as well. He sat next to her whenever he was able to.

"I think, Darcy, that everyone knows of our attachment at this point," Lizzy said with a blush the first time Darcy stretched his arm over the back of her chair in class.

"I should hate for anyone to doubt it and think they can swipe you away from under my nose," said Darcy unconcernedly.

"People are staring rather a lot," Lizzy added.

"Good," Darcy said in reply. "I was worried I was being too subtle."

For the first time since coming back from the holidays, Lizzy went to Hogsmeade. Between her foul mood and her promise to her Aunt Gardiner to be exceptionally careful off the grounds, Lizzy had found she lacked any desire to make the trek. Darcy had been quite insistent, however, and her mood was so improved that she readily agreed. She and Darcy had danced together through many more sets than would have been tolerated at a Muggle function.

"Perhaps, Darcy, we might dance a set or two with someone else," Lizzy suggested.

"I think not," Darcy answered. "You are such a small person you might get lost in the crowd, and how would I ever find you again?"

Lizzy laughingly assured Darcy that he was tall enough she could easily find _him_ and had delighted in his pouting when she insisted on dancing with Albert, when he asked.

"Tell me truly, Bennet," Albert said conspiratorially, "how much do you think I can tease Darcy before he snaps?"

"Explore his patience at your own risk, Bentham," Lizzy replied.

"Hmm… I think I'll just have to dance another with you, then," Albert said thoughtfully. "And Zebulon was talking of having a set with you, as well. And Higgins, of course. He won't let himself be outdone by me, Quidditch pitch or elsewhere. And Bingley. Bingley will want a turn."

"You are determined to get yourself in trouble," Lizzy laughed.

Albert made good on his threats. After the two dances with Albert, Lizzy hardly even saw Darcy until it was time for everyone to depart. When she found him to walk back, she had thought he might have been upset and ready to complain at length about Albert's inference, but he did not.

"I told you before, Elizabeth, that I want you to be happy," Darcy said when she asked if he was at all angry. "True enough, I would have preferred to be dancing with you, but I know it gave you great pleasure to dance with your friends. I was content to watch."

"You didn't stalk the edge of the dance floor the entire time like you did at the Meryton assembly or Bingley's ball, did you?" Lizzy asked apprehensively.

"I had considered it," Darcy admitted, "but I have been made aware that such actions are rather objectionable to certain ladies whose opinion I value very much. I danced with Jane, Josephine, Phoebe, and Leah. Does that satisfy you?"

"Only if you conversed with them, rather than stare intimidatingly the entire time," Lizzy said archly.

"I did speak with Jane, but the others hardly required any input from me. Bentham brought them in on his scheme, apparently, and they seemed determined to bait me into causing a scene," Darcy answered. He shook his head at their antics.

"You are sure you're not angry at Albert?" Lizzy asked again.

"He and all the other young men he conspired with had their chance at you long before I got here and were either found lacking or threw it away," Darcy said easily. "So long as you enjoyed the day, Elizabeth, I am perfectly content."

Lizzy had felt a great deal of relief at his lack of jealousy. She was a social creature and she would not have done well if Darcy had truly been uneasy with her interactions with others. She was happy, indeed, that she did not have to choose between her budding relationship and her former habits.

* * *

A date was set for Malfoy's hearing. A mere ten days after the whole mess started, the affair would be aired out in front of select members of the Wizengamot.

"You're both expected to be there, since you both raised your wands," McGonagall told Lizzy and Darcy after Transfiguration. "The panel will have some questions for you."

"How many people are on the panel, Professor?" Lizzy asked apprehensively.

"Seven," McGonagall answered promptly.

"And is it open to the public?"

"Most certainly _not_," McGonagall answered. "No, there was discussion of it, but Professor Dumbledore and I insisted it would not be done since you are yet underage."

Lizzy breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are, unfortunately, not completely out of the woods on the pubic front, however," McGonagall cautioned. "That the hearing is happening is not unknown, and the results of it will become common knowledge quickly."

"Who is on the panel, Professor?" Darcy asked with furrowed brows.

"It could be worse, it could be better," McGonagall answered noncommittally.

"How many slots did the Malfoys manage to fill?" said Darcy, attempting a more direct approach.

"When will we leave, Professor?" Lizzy asked. She did not want to hear more about what influence the Malfoys might have used to assure a favorable outcome for their son.

"Thursday morning you will leave with me during breakfast," McGonagall answered. "I will have to leave after being questioned, but Professor Dumbledore will come after classes begin and stay the day. You will travel back with him."

Wednesday night, Lizzy was very grateful to be able to exhaust herself at Quidditch practice. Since she and Julian had been out of commission for practice at the end of last week, she had managed to schedule a makeup practice while Darcy was at his private lesson with Flitwick.

"You're not nervous, are you, Lizzy?" Phoebe asked as they walked across the grounds.

Lizzy would have preferred Phoebe had waited to ask the question until they were back in their dormitory, rather than in front of the entire team. Since she was ambushed, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had not allowed their captain to find her way to practice or back from it without the escort of all six of them.

"Why should I be nervous?" Lizzy came back with.

"Oh, maybe because the Malfoys have likely been lining the pockets of everyone they can with their gold to keep their son from being condemned," said Siobhan in a would-be causal voice.

"Or because if you win Malfoy will blame you for being disowned and lose what little of his mind he has left, but whatever," Levi chimed in.

"Yes," said Phoebe curtly. "Thank you, Siobhan, Levi, for your assistance." She changed the subject quickly.

Lizzy's mind filled with questions, but she waited until closing the door to the room she shared with her fellow sixth years before voicing any of them. "What was Levi talking about, Malfoy being disowned?" she demanded, jumping straight to the point.

"Were you daft enough to bring up the hearing in front of the team, Phoebe?" Josephine asked scathingly.

"Look, I've had a long day," Phoebe said defensively. "I did not exactly think everything through."

"That much is obvious!"

"Jo! Phoebe!" Lizzy interrupted before the two could argue any further.

Josephine and Phoebe exchanged loaded looks, then Josephine sighed. "It's like this, Lizzy. If the panel finds Malfoy guilty of having executed a premediated attack on you and can prove he meant to seriously injure, or even kill you – "

"Which they will, if they've got any sense in them whatsoever," Phoebe interjected. "Then again, this _is_ the Ministry we're talking about."

"He'll be stigmatized," Josephine continued as if Phoebe had not interrupted. "The magical population does not look well upon someone that will attack their own with so little provocation; that person is seen as untrustworthy and unstable. No one wants anything to do with them. It's kind of like… oh, Phoebe, help me find an analogy!"

"It'd be like if Lydia ran off and became with child," Phoebe offered after a moment's thought. "She'd be looked down on, yes, but so would the rest of your family. If there's one bad apple, the whole tree's got to be cut down."

"And so the Malfoys will have to lose their social standing, or cut off their son," Lizzy said breathlessly.

"More or less," said Phoebe.

"But he's a pureblood, and I'm not!" Lizzy objected. "Isn't that going to mean anything to the panel?"

"Hopefully not," Josephine snorted.

"I don't want to be responsible for anyone being disowned!" Lizzy cried.

"You won't be," Josephine said firmly.

"Malfoy knew the risks when he raised his wand against you," Phoebe added.

Lizzy did not sleep. She was ready for the day, dressed in a formal set of robes, before Josephine and Phoebe were even awake. As soon as breakfast opened, Lizzy made her way to the Great Hall to escape whatever questions or commentary her friends might offer.

"Good morning, Elizabeth."

Lizzy started slightly as Darcy sat beside her. They had settled into a routine where they would eat breakfast by themselves with their housemates, and then together at one table for lunch, and at the other for dinner. She had expected to be left alone.

"Good morning, Darcy," she tried to say pleasantly.

"Please tell me," was all Darcy said.

Lizzy sighed and took her time buttering a piece of toast as she collected her thoughts. Only then did she relay the entirety of her conversation with her housemates regarding Malfoy's fate. "I just cannot be at ease with it," she said after the recitation. She lowered her voice nearly to a whisper before continuing. "I know what it is to be cast off by one's parents, and it is not something I wish on anyone, no matter my opinion of them."

Darcy quickly grabbed Elizabeth's hand and kissed the back of it.

"Please tell me that Jo and Phoebe were exaggerating," Lizzy pleaded.

"I can't," Darcy answered solemnly. "If the panel decides Ursus is guilty, it is highly unlikely he will be permitted in his parents' house again. I cannot imagine they would be willing to sacrifice their position in the eyes of our society to keep him on. They'll behave as though they never had a son."

Lizzy shuddered. She had not realized quite so much was at stake. She had known Malfoy would be punished, but had thought that punishment would stop at being expelled from Hogwarts.

"Elizabeth, you are not to blame," Darcy said gently.

"I _wanted_ to handle this quietly," Lizzy hissed. Her eyes lit with anger and she ripped her hand away from Darcy. "_You_ are the one that told McGonagall! You knew this would happen!"

"Yes, I knew this might happen," Darcy said evenly, despite the hurt and anger flitting over his face. He soon assembled his mask. "Malfoy had become more dangerous that I had originally given him credit for, and I knew he would only become more brazen if he was not addressed in the most direct of fashions. I also knew that, when we were further examined, it would become obvious we had not been dueling each other, and I was not going to give Malfoy the opportunity to finish what he had started during the time _that_ took.

"Mostly, Elizabeth, I knew that you were in pain and in danger, and so I acted in a manner I saw most likely to bring the whole mess to a swift end," Darcy finished, his voice and his face softening. "I _hate_ thinking about what might have happened if I hadn't been out on the grounds, Elizabeth, and I hate thinking that I could have prevented this whole mess from happening if I hadn't let myself be distracted."

Lizzy felt her ire flag, but did not release it entirely. "I had a – "

"A plan, I know," Darcy interrupted. "But so did Ursus, Elizabeth, and he had thought on his much longer."

Lizzy deflated entirely, setting her head on Darcy's shoulder as she did so. She was too exhausted, emotionally and physically, to even care that she was being so open in the Great Hall. She was also unable to see the great deal of contentment brought to Darcy's face by her initiation of contact between them.

"I'm sorry," she said after a few moments. "I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"It was not an enjoyable experience," Darcy admitted.

"Perhaps I should just always assume you are correct, and save us both the bother of an argument," Lizzy teased.

"That won't do," said Darcy. He began reaching for things and putting them onto Lizzy's plate. "I quite enjoy a debate with you, and would be sorry to see the opportunities go. If I had wanted a woman that would agree with everything I said, I could have pursued Caroline Bingley."

"Shocking, Mr. Darcy!" Elizabeth scolded, straightening to look at him with mock disapproval.

* * *

"Off you go, Darcy," McGonagall coached, holding out a bag of floo powder to her students. "I'd like a moment with Bennet. Keep close to the grate."

Darcy did as he was ordered. While he waited for Elizabeth and McGonagall, he looked around the lobby of the Ministry and sighed. He did not enjoy being there in the slightest. The last time he had spent any significant period of time in the Ministry, it had been just after his father had died to see to the various legal issues that came from inheriting. The surroundings brought back painful memories.

It was a full three minutes, at least, before Elizabeth came through. McGonagall followed shortly after, then drew her wand and cleared herself and her students of any remaining ash. At Dumbledore's suggestion, Elizabeth and Darcy had determined not to draw their wands unless it was asked of them.

"Now, just remember to keep calm," McGonagall advised as she led her students through the lobby. She nodded at several people, but the expression on her face was sufficient deterrent for conversation. "Answer honestly and, for the love of all that is magical, Bennet, think before you speak. I would hate for one of your witticisms to be taken wrongly."

Darcy rather thought that Elizabeth would have exercised her wit just then if anyone but McGonagall had made the suggestion. Or, he thought as he examined her more closely, she might have taken offense if she had been listening. Instead, she was looking at all around her with wide eyes.

"What has you so distracted, Elizabeth?" he asked lowly.

"I've never been in the Ministry before," Elizabeth answered in awe, her eyes gliding over the runes on the ceiling.

Darcy felt his face soften as he observed Elizabeth's wonder. He rather hoped to see similar expressions when she first saw Pemberley.

"Oh, I could do without that," Lizzy said, scrunching her face and nodding to the golden statue in the lobby.

Darcy barely glanced at the ridiculous statue. "Unfortunately, you are among a minority. There are many that think wizardkind is truly worshipped like that by the various magical creatures."

"Perhaps the house elf is accurate," Lizzy conceded, "but I think I would give up a great deal to see a centaur give their opinion to whoever commissioned the statue."

"I think it would be better for there to be no witnesses to such an event," Darcy mused. "I should hate to have to speak against a centaur in a court."

Elizabeth gave tight-lipped smile.

Darcy made to grab her hand, but she neatly hid it from him.

"Not here, please," she said anxiously, scanning the surrounding crowd. "I don't want anyone's opinion influenced."

"I don't care about that, Elizabeth," Darcy half-growled.

"But I do," Elizabeth answered quickly. "You are very good to me, Darcy, but you can't possibly understand what it is to be looked down on for what you were born."

"Then let me use my position to aid you," Darcy pleaded.

"It's not that simple," Elizabeth explained sadly. "Remember, it was Lady Matlock taking a shining to me that _really_ set Malfoy off."

Darcy furrowed his brows and looked down at his shoes. He felt a bitter disappointment in himself that was not at all unfamiliar. It had pervaded in the days after Elizabeth had accosted him at Oakham Mount when he realized he had not behaved toward her as she deserved. Now, the unpleasant feeling filled him again as he recognized he had never considered how his pursuit of Elizabeth would affect _her. _She would be seen as a social climber, after him only for his money and his name.

McGonagall finally stopped in front of an ornate door and turned to face her students. "Are you ready?" she asked.

Lizzy gave a slight smile. "Does it matter?"

McGonagall's lips twitched. "I suppose you're correct."

The room was, blessedly, empty. Darcy, Elizabeth, and McGonagall were able to settle in their seats without the scrutiny of the panel.

"Are you sure this is the right place, Professor?" Elizabeth asked, her hands fidgeting in her lap. "I would have thought there would be _someone_ here."

"I told you before, Bennet, that Professor Dumbledore and I made sure this would be a closed event," McGonagall said with a slight sniff. "No one else is here because we are half an hour early."

"Half an hour?" Elizabeth burst.

"I am determined my animagus student will not be found lacking for anything she can control," McGonagall said firmly.

Darcy looked at McGonagall with newfound appreciation. He had always respected her as a well-qualified and fair instructor, and he was well aware of her capabilities. Now, however, he was determined to do anything he could to make the woman's life easier because of her care of Elizabeth. Whenever he saw an opportunity to be of use to Minerva McGonagall, he would eagerly take it.

"How is the animagus training going?" Darcy asked. Thankfully, both women were so enthusiastic on the topic they were able to keep conversation going until the door opened five minutes before the hearing was to start.

Darcy was pleased to see most of the panel members: Madam Bones, Sir Eldron, Mr. Fawley, and Lady Hopkirk. He was less enthused to see Lord Branson and Mrs. White. What made him nervous was Sir Diggory walking in last.

"What upsets you so, Darcy?" Elizabeth asked out of the corner of her mouth as McGonagall exchanged pleasantries with the members of the Wizengamot.

Darcy twitched his head toward Diggory. "That is Silas's uncle," he breathed. "The one that hasn't spoken to his family since Silas's father decided to send his children to Hogwarts instead of Beauxbatons."

Elizabeth exhaled uneasily. When the members of the panel finally turned their attention to her, however, she was standing tall and proud, without a trace of apprehension on her face. Darcy drew himself up another few inches as his chest swelled with satisfaction at Elizabeth's courage.

Each of the panel members greeted Elizabeth with varying degrees of civility, yet all were perfectly polite to Darcy. His estimation of Branson, White, and Diggory lowered even further at the disparity between the way they greeted him and Elizabeth.

Malfoy walked in with his father a mere thirty seconds before the clock struck the hour.

Darcy felt his fingers clench into fists as Diggory took the seat in the middle of the panel. He was sure it was thanks to the influence of Mr. Malfoy that Diggory had managed to come to lead the event, and he did not like it in the slightest.

"Well, let us begin and get this unpleasant business done and over with, shall we?" said Diggory as he shuffled documents around him. "Ursus Malfoy, please tell the panel what you remember of the events of last Tuesday night."

Darcy was careful to keep his indifferent demeanor up for the room to see. Internally, however, he was seething. Firstly, a formal pronouncement of the purpose of the hearing should have been made. Secondly, it should have been Elizabeth called to speak first, as the wronged party. Already, Diggory was trying to alter events to benefit the Malfoys. Thankfully, he did not seem to be alone in his opinion. Madam Bones went so far as to lean forward and raise an unhappy eyebrow at Diggory, though he took no notice.

Dumbledore slipped into the room just as Malfoy was saying he and Elizabeth had agreed to have a duel the day previously. Malfoy continued on to admit the duel had gotten more heated than he'd intended by the time Darcy came onto the scene.

Darcy thought he might have cracked a tooth or two from clenching his jaw so tightly as Malfoy neatly presented his well-rehearsed lies. It had taken considerable effort not to interrupt, especially at points when Diggory nodded in understanding. Darcy quickly came to the conclusion that Mr. Malfoy may very well have consulted Diggory when constructing his son's defense. Furious as he was, Darcy had to admit the plan was a good one. If Malfoy and Elizabeth _had _agreed to a duel, Malfoy would be absolved of any wrongdoing in the eyes of society, and he and Elizabeth would be punished only within Hogwarts. The claim would be difficult to disprove, especially with Diggory's noted preference.

"Miss Bennet," Diggory began after Malfoy had finished. "You are from Hertfordshire, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir," Elizabeth readily answered.

"One of five daughters born to Thomas and Frances Bennet?"

"Yes, sir."

"And your father is a Squib?"

At that, Darcy leaned forward in his chair. He had been on the verge of opening his mouth when a slight shake of the head from Dumbledore staid him.

"I'm afraid I fail to understand what my lineage has to do with this matter, Sir Diggory," Elizabeth said lightly. Darcy recognized the tone from the considerable period of time he had thought Elizabeth would welcome his attentions, yet she had hated him. It reminded him how very capable Elizabeth was of working words to her advantage.

"And your mother is a Muggle?" Diggory asked, ignoring Elizabeth's objection.

Darcy somehow managed to tense further. Elizabeth did not do well when she was ignored.

"I must have misunderstood the point of this hearing, sir," Elizabeth said as her cheeks became infused with color.

"The point, Miss Bennet?" Diggory asked while looking at her over his glasses.

"I was given to understand this panel had assembled to hear accounts from all relevant witnesses in relation to the events of last Tuesday night," Elizabeth said coolly. "If that is, indeed, the purpose of this gathering, then I must ask I be allowed to give my version of events to speed the process. If you are truly curious about my family tree, Sir Diggory, I should be more than pleased to draw one out for you after this hearing is concluded."

The _echo _of a pin drop could have been easily heard, such was the silence in the room following Elizabeth's speech. Darcy was part pride, part fear for Elizabeth.

Diggory's lips were tightly pursed as he glared at Elizabeth, who refused to cow before him.

"Please, Miss Bennet, tell the panel what you remember about the night in question," Lady Hopkirk said eventually, looking as though she was desperately fighting a smile.

Elizabeth obliged without further comment. Her recounting was detached and factual, therefore incredibly appropriate for the setting.

"Is your hearing permanently damaged, Miss Bennet?" asked Lord Branson.

"It is not," Elizabeth answered.

Branson looked disappointed that Elizabeth did not elaborate. Darcy smirked internally. Branson had been hoping for Elizabeth to say something stupid or irrelevant, thus making her seem unreasonable or appear to be trying to influence the panel with editorializing. But if there was one thing Elizabeth Bennet was not, it was stupid.

Elizabeth was asked a few more questions, and then Darcy had his turn to give his recollection.

"Describe again, Mr. Darcy, what _exactly_ you saw when you came onto the scene?" Mr. Fawley requested after Darcy had finished.

Darcy felt his chest tighten. He had very much hoped he would not be asked to elaborate. A night had yet to pass where his nightmares had failed to turn down that dark path, resulting in his waking in a cold sweat.

"I saw flashes of light I thought might have been a duel, and ran toward them. By the time I got to the edge of the forest, commotion had ceased. Miss Bennet was on the ground with her hands over her ears." Darcy's voice sounded cold and detached, even to him. He hoped the panel would take it as a show of objectivity, rather than the veil for raging fury that it actually was. "Miss Bennet was, to my observation, not in a state to be able to continue to defend herself. Mr. Ursus Malfoy approached Miss Bennet with his wand raised. I – "

"Interfered, yes," Mrs. White interrupted.

Darcy clenched his jaw shut again to keep from lashing out.

"Are you certain Miss Bennet was _actually_ injured?" Branson asked.

"The blood gushing out of her ears seemed sufficient evidence to draw such a conclusion, yes," Darcy answered. In that moment, he could feel Elizabeth's blood soaking through his robes and had to repress a shudder.

"So you did not witness the beginning of the duel?" Diggory asked.

"I did not," Darcy unwillingly admitted. He would have liked to have the opportunity to tell the panel of all the threats Malfoy had made against Elizabeth prior, but knew it would not go over well. He needed to present only the facts asked for, or the integrity of the hearing would be questioned.

"Minerva McGonagall, your recollection for the panel, please," said Diggory after suppressing a smirk.

Judging by her narrowed lips and flared nostrils, McGonagall was not much happier with how Diggory was running the hearing than Darcy was. She gave direct and curt answers, though she peppered in just enough additional comments that would make a person in possession of any decency feel shame.

"In your dealings with Miss Bennet, Professor McGonagall, have you ever had reason to be concerned she would engage in an unsanctioned duel?" Sir Eldron asked.

"None whatsoever," McGonagall promptly answered.

"We have a note saying Miss Bennet has been studying dueling with Professor Flitwick for upwards of a year now," said Diggory, flipping through a stack of parchment. "You are quite certain she has never engaged in extra practice?"

McGonagall did not answer quite immediately, and Darcy rather thought it was because she was fighting just as badly as he was not to speak in anger. "Miss Bennet has been an exemplary student," she finally decided on saying. "She is exceptionally bright, responsible, and keeps herself under good regulation, which is why Professor Flitwick and I have both agreed to take her on for independent studies in very challenging areas. We have refused plenty of students before because we feared what they might do with the acquired knowledge. Neither of us hesitated with Miss Bennet."

"You are Miss Bennet's head of house, is that correct, Professor McGonagall?" Mr. Fawley asked.

"I am," McGonagall said, drawing herself up a little taller.

"If Miss Bennet is all you say she is, Professor, I have to wonder why you did not make her a prefect," Mrs. White interjected, just as Mr. Fawley had been about to ask a follow up question.

"Bennet," McGonagall said while glaring at Mrs. White.

"Professor McGonagall asked me to be prefect, and I declined, Mrs. White," Elizabeth said in a very measured voice.

"Why was that, Miss Bennet?" Lady Hopkirk asked with genuine curiosity. Darcy was also quite eager for the answer. He had not known Elizabeth had ever been up for the position.

Elizabeth blushed slightly and looked to McGonagall, who nodded at her, before answering. "I did not think I would do the office justice," she admitted. "I wanted to stay focused on my classes and on Quidditch, and I knew I would be starting dueling at the beginning of fifth year. Additionally, I hoped to devote a great deal of attention to my youngest sisters when they came to Hogwarts, which they did this year. Taking on the responsibilities of being a prefect would have just been too much."

Darcy thought back to the beginning of the year, when Elizabeth had become ill from stress, and was grateful for her foresight in not taking on the position. He very purposefully did not look at her, as he thought he would not be able to resist taking her hand to kiss it, and she had made her desire on that very clear.

"You've made your opinion of Miss Bennet quite clear, Professor McGonagall," said Sir Eldron. "What of the other party, Mr. Ursus Malfoy?"

McGonagall's nostrils immediately reflared. "The younger Mr. Malfoy is a capable student."

"And?" Eldron pressed.

"And I decline the invitation to elaborate," McGonagall said flatly.

The room was, again, struck silent for a beat.

"Thank you, Professor McGonagall, that will be all," said Diggory.

McGonagall rose from her chair and squeezed Elizabeth's shoulder gently before making her exit.

"Professor Dumbledore," said Diggory, "you had a part in all this, correct?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore in his ever-calm voice. He sat with his elbows on the arms of the chair he had drawn himself, his fingers connected at the tips.

"Do you also decline the invitation to elaborate?" Branson asked smartly.

Darcy felt his eyes widen. Dumbledore was an oddity, to be sure, and McGonagall's short temper was well known, but Branson _surely_ would not be fool enough to disparage them both in an official hearing?

Dumbledore gave a short, slight smile one might have said was done in pity in Branson's direction before speaking again. "Professor McGonagall came to my office and said there had been an incident on the grounds that needed to be investigated – "

"Did Professor McGonagall say Miss Bennet had been attacked?" Diggory interrupted.

"Professor McGonagall informed me Mr. Darcy had said so, yes, and asked that I make sure the claim was properly investigated," Dumbledore answered evenly. "I sent Professor McGonagall to fetch Miss Jane Bennet to be of assistance to Madam Pomfrey in the hospital wing, and then summoned Professor Flitwick."

"So Professor McGonagall was not present when you first met with Flitwick?" Madam Bones asked.

"Correct," Dumbledore said, inclining his head toward the quick-minded woman. "I told Professor Flitwick I had received a report that something had happened on the grounds and asked that he go investigate. He did not know the name of any of the parties involved, nor the nature of the incident, to maintain his objectivity. He returned after nearly half an hour to share the results of his findings, which you have there, Sir Diggory. I will say only that Professor Flitwick concluded some sort of ambush had taken place, and allow you to question him on the particulars when he arrives."

Diggory moved through the stack in front of him until finding the indicated document. He set it off to the side without a second glance.

Lady Hopkirk, seated beside Diggory, unabashedly reached out to grab the report. She held it between herself and Mr. Fawley and they both began reading.

"After Professor Flitwick gave his report, I went to the hospital wing with Professor McGonagall to assess what harm had been done to Miss Bennet," Dumbledore continued. "Miss Bennet was bleeding from the ears as a result of a progressive curse that would have, if left unchecked, affected her brain and very likely killed her."

Darcy felt his blood suddenly turn to ice. He had not realized Malfoy's curse had been quite so cruel. His fear had been that Elizabeth would bleed out, not that whatever had affected her ears would also wreak havoc on her brain.

"Madam Pomfrey had been at work trying to stop the progress of the curse for some time, but, capable as she is, had been unsuccessful. She has not had much cause to deal with curses of such a nature," said Dumbledore. The twinkle usually present in his eyes had gone out. "I was able to find the proper counter curse after a fair few tries. I brought Mr. Darcy back to my office with me and had him write his statement, then summoned Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Slughorn, and Sprout to confer on the next steps."

Lady Hopkirk, tired of waiting for Diggory to hand over appropriate documents, reached across him and took the entire stack of papers. She sifted through until finding what she wanted, then gasped. She pointed to a specific point on the paper, then handed it off to Mr. Fawley, who frowned deeply before handing it off to Sir Eldron.

"What justification can you offer for using such a spell, Mr. Malfoy?" Madam Bones asked coldly after having her turn of looking at the document.

"I did not know what the spell would do, Madam Bones," said Malfoy slickly. "I certainly would have refrained if I had."

"So you used an unknown spell on an opponent in what you claim was supposed to be a friendly duel?" Sir Eldron asked with barely contained anger. "Are you daft, boy?"

"We will take a fifteen-minute recess," Sir Diggory declared. He rose before any objection could be made and the panel was forced to follow him out of the room.

"Come, Ursus," said Mr. Malfoy tightly. He pulled Malfoy up by the back of his robes, then exited the room with clipped steps.

"There is an alcove, not too far from here," said Dumbledore conversationally as he examined his fingers, "in the hallway just to the left, in fact, that has the most curious tile patterns on the floor." He looked at Darcy over his glasses. "I always enjoy the chance to study it."

Darcy gave a tight, appreciative smile to Dumbledore before rising and declaring he and Elizabeth simply had to see it for themselves while they had the opportunity.

The alcove Dumbledore had described did, indeed, have an interesting tile pattern, but Darcy was far more appreciative of the fact that it provided a convenient amount of privacy. As soon as he and Elizabeth were inside, he crushed her to his chest and set his cheek on top of her head. "I did not realize how very close I had come to losing you," he said after a few moments of taking in Elizabeth's comforting scent.

"It was disconcerting to hear from Dumbledore how close I came to dying," Elizabeth conceded, her voice somewhat muffled by Darcy's robes. "I thought the danger had passed once Malfoy had gone away."

"I rather think Malfoy should be made to go to Azkaban," Darcy said fiercely.

"Well, lucky for him, he is underage, so there is little chance of that."

"Do you still feel remorse for the fate that awaits him, even if it is not prison?"

"I'm not sure this hearing will be so devastating to him," said Elizabeth. "Sir Diggory certainly seems to favor his innocence."

Darcy pulled back slightly and brought his hand under Elizabeth's chin to tilt her face toward him. "Are you worried, Elizabeth?"

"I'm not sure," Elizabeth answered honestly. "Now that it's started, it can't be undone, so I would have Malfoy be reprimanded in some way."

"But?" Darcy prodded.

"I don't know!" Elizabeth said frustratedly, pinching her eyes shut and furrowing her brows. Darcy felt her fingers curl into fists against his back. "I don't want him back at Hogwarts, I've realized, because I do not want to have the stress of keeping him from Kitty and Lydia. If he's expelled, however, I will forever be looking over my shoulder everywhere _but_ Hogwarts! And I _still_ do not like the idea that his family might cast him off. I had hoped to have reason it might not happen, but Old Mr. Malfoy does not appear to be exceptionally attached to his son."

"You are too good by far, Elizabeth," said Darcy gently, his eyes aglow with affection, "and you put me to shame."

Elizabeth freed her chin from Darcy's finger and turned her head aside.

"As for your other very reasonable concerns," Darcy continued, seeing praise as being unwelcome, presently, "if you let me, I will gladly help you. I would not see your sisters come to harm, and I could not live with myself if you were to do so again."

"I just want this to be over," Elizabeth grumbled. "Wondering what the future will hold is much more anxiety inducing than simply dealing with the reality in front of you."

Darcy grabbed Elizabeth's hands and kissed them both. "Soon, Elizabeth. Soon it will be."

Elizabeth sighed, then bid Darcy wait a minute or two before heading back to the room and left the alcove.

Darcy paced the tiny space in agitation. If he had his way, he would simply carry Elizabeth off back to Hogwarts, rather than put her through more of the circus show that was the hearing. He did not particularly see the point of continuing with the event. To any reasonable person, Darcy thought it must seem clear what had happened. Then again, Sir Diggory had proved he was not the most reasonable of persons, and Lord Branson and Mrs. White were good company for him.

A few more questions were asked of Elizabeth, Darcy, and Malfoy before Slughorn entered to give his testimony.

Slughorn unabashedly praised Elizabeth, stating he had been trying to get her to join the group of students he recognized to be exceptional, but she staunchly refused. He laughingly told the panel he had not given up on her yet and would see she came to at least _one_ dinner before she left Hogwarts. When asked about Malfoy, Slughorn's exuberance took on a rather forced air, and his laughs seemed less jovial. Nonetheless, he managed to compliment Malfoy's academic performance and claimed he had nothing of interest to the panel to add.

Darcy gripped the arms of his chair tightly. It would have been perfectly acceptable for Slughorn to mention he had issued Malfoy a month's worth of detention for a blatant Quidditch foul on Elizabeth that had resulted in grievous injury, but, apparently, Slughorn did not want to raise the ire of Old Mr. Malfoy any more than necessary. Coward.

Luckily, Lady Hopkirk was exceptionally astute. "I have here the disciplinary record of Ursus Malfoy," she said, waving an unfurled scroll, "and it indicates he spent a full four weeks in detention this past autumn. What can you tell us of that, Professor Slughorn?"

"Well, that was a rather unfortunate instance," Slughorn began to bluster.

Darcy was so enraged by Slughorn's deference to the Malfoy's status that he opened his mouth to tell the panel about it, himself, but Dumbledore cleared his throat, forestalling Darcy's outburst.

"If I may, Lady Hopkirk?" Dumbledore said politely.

"By all means," said Lady Hopkirk. "You'll certainly give a faster answer than the good Potions Master," she added with disdain.

Slughorn's smile faded beneath his walrus mustache.

"Gryffindor was playing Slytherin. Mr. Ursus Malfoy served as Beater. He hit the Bludger at a Gryffindor player after the final whistle, putting the other player in the hospital wing for three days complete," Dumbledore said factually.

"A mistake made in the heat of the moment," said Diggory while waving his hand unconcernedly through the air.

Just when Darcy thought he would break and begin shouting at Diggory, Elizabeth's foot bumped into his. He looked to her immediately and she gave him a stern look that could not be mistaken. He fell back into his chair and took up his ironclad grip once more.

"What was the name of the player Mr. Ursus Malfoy sent to the hospital wing, Professor Dumbledore?" Lady Hopkirk asked after completely ignoring Sir Diggory.

"The team's captain, Miss Elizabeth Bennet," Dumbledore answered mildly.

Sir Eldron and Madam Bones began whispering animatedly to each other immediately, and Darcy was pleased to see the harsh resolve on Lord Branson's face flicker.

"Does Ursus Malfoy continue to play for Slytherin?" Mr. Fawley asked of Slughorn.

Confronted by the stern looks of four high-ranking Wizengamot members, Slughorn admitted that, yes, Malfoy did maintain his position on the team.

"The two incidents are unrelated," said Old Mr. Malfoy, addressing the panel for the first time all day.

"I find that difficult to believe, Caius," Sir Eldron argued. "I would suppose it proves a pattern in your son's behavior that is disturbing and dangerous, and that he had targeted Miss Bennet before." He turned to his fellow panel members. "Do we have his records from Beauxbatons?"

"We do not," said Lady Hopkirk unhappily as she shuffled through the various documents before her.

The door opened before anything more could be said, and Professor Flitwick slipped through. "Members of the panel," he said formally. "May I request a moment with Sir Diggory and Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore rose immediately and made his way to the door. Sir Diggory dismissed Slughorn, then announced a hold to the proceedings reluctantly and joined the party forming in the hallway.

Slughorn waddled from the room as quickly as he could.

Darcy's leg began to bounce as he studiously avoided looking at Elizabeth and Malfoy. If he looked at Malfoy, he feared he would break his promise not to use his wand at the Ministry. If he looked at Elizabeth, he was certain he would not be able to abide by her request not to draw attention to their courtship. He settled on carefully observing the remaining panel members. Lady Hopkirk, Madam Bones, Sir Eldron, and Mr. Fawley were all sifting through the plethora of papers before them. After a few minutes, they were joined by Lord Branson, which Darcy found highly encouraging. Mrs. White remained firmly in her chair and refused to pay any heed to the murmured discussions of her colleagues.

Eventually, Sir Diggory opened the door again. He was followed by Professor Dumbledore, then Flitwick, and, to Darcy's immense surprise, Lord Matlock.

"Lord Matlock!" Lady Hopkirk exclaimed. "These proceedings are closed to the public!"

"Professor Dumbledore and I have agreed to allow Matlock entry," said Diggory tightly.

"I am not here to function as Lord Matlock, but as Augustus Fitzwilliam, Lady Hopkirk," Matlock assured. "I have no intention of finding a place on the panel." He drew a chair and settled himself at the back of the room.

Darcy had to fight a smile. Lord Matlock did not boast of the fact, but he was a highly respected and influential man. Simply by being present, he increased the importance of the hearing and sent a message to Sir Diggory that the matter needed to be taken seriously. Whenever Lord Matlock gave his attention to a legal matter, he made sure it was done properly.

"Professor Flitwick, please present your findings to the panel," Diggory requested tightly.

Flitwick proceeded to recount the event in great detail, going so far as to conjure different diagrams for the panel and even demonstrate a few of the spells he knew were used with a dummy wand.

"In your well-educated opinion, Professor Flitwick," said Madam Bones gravely, "was this a duel between acquaintances that simply got out of hand?"

"Most assuredly not," Flitwick stated firmly. "All evidence points to an ambush. Evidence aside, Miss Bennet knows full well that her training with me would be at an end if she were to engage in a serious duel without proper supervision."

"What Professor Flitwick and Miss Bennet are both too modest to say, though I have no such reservations," Matlock piped up, "is that Miss Bennet is far too accomplished to be bested so thoroughly as she was by any of her schoolmates unless taken by surprise. I have seen her duel, and it is impressive. In fact, I would be honored to sponsor her at her next tournament."

Darcy turned slowly to his uncle, having difficulty believing what he was hearing. To his knowledge, Matlock had never sponsored _anybody_ in a tournament, not even his own sons.

"Thank you, my lord," Elizabeth said quietly.

"Have you any final remarks, Miss Bennet, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Ursus Malfoy?" Lady Hopkirk asked after silence had settled and Sir Diggory failed to take charge.

"I have none," Darcy said clearly. Elizabeth responded similarly. Malfoy's negative was given through tight lips.

"The panel will adjourn to deliberate," Lady Hopkirk announced. She withdrew two coins from her pocket, waved her wand at them for several moments, then handed one to Dumbledore and one to Caius Malfoy. "When we are ready to deliver our verdict, the coins will call you."

The panel filed out and the Malfoys were quick to follow.

"Thank you for accompanying me, Augustus," said Flitwick as he shook hands with Matlock. "I can be just in time for my last class if I leave now, and so I will. Bennet, Darcy, hang in there just a little longer."

Dumbledore went with Flitwick to the door, leaving Darcy alone with his uncle and Elizabeth.

"Thank you again, Lord Matlock," Elizabeth said.

"None of that, Miss Bennet," said Matlock. "You've earned the approbation. Tell me, has Diggory had his wand up his arse all day?"

Elizabeth burst into giggles, which she quickly tried to stifle.

Darcy felt himself smile for the first time since the proceedings started at the beautiful sound. "Sir Diggory has behaved as you might expect, Uncle," he answered while Elizabeth regained control of herself.

"What a marvelous prat," Matlock said mildly.

"I gather you are responsible for Major Fitzwilliam's sense of humor, Lord Matlock?" Elizabeth asked with mirth dancing in her eyes.

"Much to my wife's dismay, I am," Lord Matlock answered with a grin. The smile slipped from his face as he nodded to the door the panel had disappeared through. "Do not worry yourself overly much, Miss Bennet. Diggory's a fool, and White's no better. Branson can be made to see reason, occasionally. The rest of the panel's got sense, Lady Hopkirk especially."

Elizabeth's face colored and she looked to her feet uncomfortably. "It is not my fate I'm concerned for, Lord Matlock," she said after a moment.

Darcy's heart lurched as he thought of how deeply Elizabeth cared for those around her, even if they did not deserve it. He faced his uncle resolutely. "Uncle Matlock, I have some news that I am pleased to give you in person, rather than by owl."

Matlock's eyes lit up. "And what news is that, my boy?"

Darcy boldly took Elizabeth's hand in his. "I have asked Miss Bennet for a courtship, and she has agreed."

Matlock beamed. "I am happy for you," he said without artifice. Even Elizabeth could not doubt his sincerity when she raised her gaze. "Be careful now, Darcy," he cautioned. "I think your aunt may very well choose to keep Miss Bennet over you, should either of you break the courtship."

"I would not blame Lady Matlock in the slightest," Darcy said as he smiled at Elizabeth.

"Well, we have missed lunch by quite some time," said Dumbledore as he joined the group, "and I will not subject either of you to the curious hordes of students just yet by suggesting we return to Hogwarts for a meal. Have you any objections to wandering Diagon Ally in search of sustenance?"

"Please, Professor Dumbledore," Matlock boomed, "do not insult me by making such a suggestion to my nephew and his young lady in my presence! You shall all come to Matlock House for refreshments, of course!"

Darcy was pleased to see Elizabeth's face light up at the prospect and eagerly agreed to the scheme. Perhaps, if she was well enough, he might be able to see Georgiana.

* * *

"William!" a small voice exclaimed loudly as a small parade of people came out of the fireplace into Lady Matlock's parlor.

Lizzy felt her face pull into a wide smile as a familiar little girl with long blonde hair launched herself into Darcy's arms. He kissed her cheek several times and spoke lowly into her ear.

"Miss Bennet, what a pleasure to see you again!" said Lady Matlock.

Lizzy greeted Lady Matlock enthusiastically, relieved for such a warm welcome. She had been in the middle of awkwardly receiving compliments for her well-chosen court clothing when she nearly lost her balance as something collided with her unexpectedly. She was quite surprised to find a mess of blonde locks at her waist.

"I just told her," Darcy said sheepishly.

Lizzy lowered herself to her knees to better interact with Georgiana while Lady Matlock demanded an explanation from her nephew.

Georgiana firmly attached herself to Lizzy's side, refusing to leave as tea and sandwiches were called for. Lizzy had barely finished her beverage when Georgiana grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs again.

"Oh, I can't take him now," Lizzy said as Georgiana handed her the same kitten she had over break, though it was now much more grown. "I am not going straight back to my dormitory, and I don't think this fellow would much appreciate the Ministry."

Georgiana firmly set a basket at Elizabeth's feet, then mutely directed her to place the kitten inside. That done, Georgiana closed the basket and awkwardly lifted it to put it in Lizzy's hands.

"Oh, very well," Lizzy said, caving. She would find a way to make it work, she supposed. She could not bear to disappoint the girl before her by refusing yet again.

Lizzy and Georgiana had been back downstairs only a few moments before Dumbledore announced it was time to go.

"What have you there, Miss Bennet?" Dumbledore asked, looking at the basket on Lizzy's arm.

"A gift from a friend," Lizzy answered, looking toward Georgiana, who was blushing furiously at the compliment.

"Oh?" Dumbledore said interestedly. He flipped the basket open and stroked he kitten a few times. "With your permission and Miss Darcy's, Miss Bennet, I will send this fellow off to Hogwarts now."

"Just so long as no one gives him a tour before I do," Lizzy said seriously, though there was a teasing glitter in her eyes.

"But of course," said Dumbledore solemnly. "Does this plan meet your approval, Miss Darcy?"

Georgiana stood beside her aunt, her skirts swishing around her as she turned from side to side. She nodded without meeting Dumbledore's eyes.

Dumbledore sent the basket through the fireplace to Hogwarts, informing Lizzy she could pick up her new friend from McGonagall's office upon return. The light heartedness of the room vanished as the next pinch of floo powder was thrown in and the fire turned green again.

"Will you accompany us, Augustus?" Dumbledore asked Lord Matlock mildly.

"It would be my pleasure," Matlock answered, and he went through the fire first.

Lizzy felt her pulse quicken as she came closer and closer to the room where the panel would deliver their judgement. She consoled herself that, whatever was to happen, at least the hearing would be done. Further incidents could hopefully be dealt with outside the public realm.

Sir Diggory had been deposed, apparently. Lady Hopkirk occupied the seat at the center of the table and welcomed back the Malfoys, Dumbledore, Lizzy, and Darcy.

"We members of the Wizengamot declare Mr. Ursus Malfoy to be guilty of a premeditated, cowardly, and completely unjustifiable attack on Miss Elizabeth Bennet," Lady Hopkirk said loudly and clearly. "We condemn Mr. Ursus Malfoy as being unworthy of wizardkind's trust and without honor."

Lizzy heard the distinct sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and then Caius Malfoy passed through her line of vision on his way to the door, which closed with a sense of finality she had not thought possible.

It was done. Ursus Malfoy was cut off from his family.

"It is the recommendation of the members of this panel that Mr. Ursus Malfoy not be permitted to continue at Hogwarts for the safety of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and all others," Lady Hopkirk mercilessly continued. "What say you, Professor Dumbledore?"

"I, Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, agree with the recommendation of the panel and hereby declare Mr. Ursus Malfoy expelled," said Dumbledore gravely.

Lizzy felt her head whirl. She was somehow relaxing and tensing up at the same time.

"Mr. Malfoy, being underage, your wand will be confiscated until you can procure proof you are receiving adequate instruction in the arts of wizardkind. You will report to the office for Underage Magic immediately following this hearing," said Lady Hopkirk. "Be warned that further action against Miss Bennet, or a repeat offense against another member of the magical community, will result in you being tried as an adult and sentenced to time in Azkaban.

"This hearing is adjourned." Lady Hopkirk stood and swept out of the room without further comment. Her fellow panel members were left with no option but to follow her out.

Lizzy was vaguely aware of the fact that Darcy had taken her hand in his, but had so many thoughts warring in her head she failed to respond. Malfoy suddenly standing before her snapped her back to reality, however.

"You're dead, Bennet," Malfoy hissed menacingly, lowly enough that Dumbledore and Matlock, in discussion only a few feet away, were unable to hear.

Darcy shot out of his chair and put himself firmly between Lizzy and Malfoy.

Lizzy put her hand on Darcy's arm quickly, and, at her gentle push, he moved out of the way, though he kept a wary eye on Malfoy.

"I am sorry things came to this," Lizzy said quietly.

"I don't want your pity, Mudblood," Malfoy said coldly, "I want your life!"

Elizabeth looked at Malfoy sadly for a moment, then made her way over to Dumbledore.

"If you ever so much as look at Miss Bennet, or any member of her family, ever again, Ursus, I will make you regret the day you were born," Darcy snarled viciously once Elizabeth was away. "You have an appointment to keep now, do you not?"

Malfoy glared murderously at Darcy for a moment longer before storming from the room.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Holy flippity-flop, this is a long chapter! Lots to unpack. Flirty and cute Lizzy and Darcy. Wizarding world dynamics. Malfoy being a butt face. McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Flitwick being awesome. Lord Matlock (who, I must say, I thoroughly enjoy writing). And, of course, A FLOOFY KITTY CAT!

Share your thoughts! I posses much curiosity.


	25. Chapter 25

Lizzy and Darcy gave a full account of the hearing to Jane, Bingley, and Mary. They gave most details to their closest circle of friends, who promised to keep the knowledge to themselves. The rest of the student body only knew what information was public – that Ursus Malfoy had been condemned and disowned. After his appointment with the Department of Underage Magic, Malfoy had disappeared. No one had seen or heard from him.

"And you're sure there's no news from Hertfordshire?" Lizzy asked Bingley worriedly on Saturday morning.

"I would inform you immediately, Lizzy," said Bingley as he pulled his gloves on. "Either Reggie or Louisa has seen your parents every day since arriving at Netherfield over a week ago and say they are in perfectly good health."

"Do not borrow trouble, Lizzy," Jane suggested. "Are you sure you would not like to go to Hogsmeade with us? Some distraction might do you good."

"I'll be plenty busy here," Lizzy sighed. She and Darcy were to catch up on all the work they had missed while at the hearing.

Jane and Bingley headed out, and Lizzy began her journey to the unused tower where she and Darcy had agreed to meet.

Lizzy was greeted at her destination by a cheerful, "Good morning, Elizabeth!"

"I knew you must be up to something when you did not come down to breakfast," Lizzy said after absorbing her surroundings. All the dust that had danced and settled through the room was gone. The windows had been cleaned. A table sat in the corner, a small bookshelf beside it. A large rug dominated the floor.

"I thought our study space could do with a bit of care," Darcy explained. He suddenly looked nervous. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" she asked, eyes lighting to tease. "How shall I ever distract myself from my work without the abundance of dust floating through the sunlight to occupy my attention?"

"I thought my sister's gift could provide ample distraction, when distraction is needed," said Darcy with a relieved smile. He walked over to the bookshelf and pulled a small box from it that Elizabeth had not noticed. It was filled with random cuts of ribbons and a few small balls.

"Well, then," said Lizzy with an exaggerated huff, "I suppose I am satisfied." Truth be told, she was much more than satisfied. She was filled with appreciation for the man before her that cared so very much for her happiness and comfort.

"I am glad to hear it," Darcy replied, understanding Lizzy's tease very well. "Have you brought your new friend?"

Lizzy reached into her pocket and pulled out her adolescent cat. "I left my robes on the floor last night and he crawled into the pocket. I didn't have the heart to take him out before, but he's awake now, so he might as well stretch his legs." She set the cat down, and she and Darcy passed a pleasant half hour teasing him with the toys Darcy had found.

"Have you chosen a name for him yet?" Darcy asked as he watched Elizabeth twitch a ribbon while the cat stalked it.

"I haven't been able to settle on anything," Lizzy answered after the cat had pounced. He was now delightedly batting at the vanquished ribbon. "Did Georgiana have a name for him, do you think?"

"I imagine that, if she did, it had something to do with his coloring or the pattern of his fur," Darcy answered.

Lizzy scrunched her nose. "Sir Grey does not fit him, I think."

"He has a title, does he?" Darcy asked interestedly.

"Oh, he must," Lizzy said seriously. "He came from a lord's house, after all."

"Technically, he came from under a bush in a park, but we can keep his true origins a secret, if you wish."

"How_ did_ my cat come to reside in your sister's room?" Lizzy asked with an arched brow.

Darcy wiggled his fingers for the cat's amusement for several moments before responding. "Georgiana had looked so happy with those kittens," he said finally. "I went back for them the very next day. I hoped they would make her smile. My aunt has since told me that Georgiana has benefitted greatly from having something to care for."

Lizzy smiled softly at receiving yet another reminder of just how well Darcy cared for his family and friends. "I imagine the kittens gave her something else to focus on."

"I also wanted to have them as a reminder of getting to see you again, and the somewhat positive note we ended on that day," Darcy admitted with a slight blush. "When you didn't fight me, when you looked after Georgiana for me, I was so hopeful that I might have a chance. I wanted those kittens for Georgiana, true enough, but I also wanted them because of you."

Elizabeth's own face warmed, and she quickly sought distraction. "Well, we have wasted a good forty minutes. I think we must start on some work now." She got up and made to pass by Darcy to get her bag, but he gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her progression.

"How are you feeling today, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked concernedly.

"I don't want to talk – " Lizzy started frustratedly.

"Please."

"There is not much change from yesterday," Lizzy mumbled, only able to resist Darcy's gentle encouragement for a few moments.

Darcy started rubbing his thumb in small circles on Elizabeth's wrist. "I will tell you every day for as long as it takes, Elizabeth. Malfoy's fate is not your fault. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy's decision is not your fault. You have no guilt to bear."

"And I will tell _you_ every day," Lizzy began, "that does not change what I feel."

Darcy sighed, then released her.

"Shall we start with Herbology, do you think?" Lizzy asked with a determinedly casual air.

* * *

The next week saw Lizzy's cat gain a name and a title in his own right: The Menace of Gryffindor Tower.

Phoebe had just finished a gruelingly long essay for Muggle Studies and was in the process of demanding everyone praise her accomplishment when Lizzy's cat had caught the edge of the paper on his claw, dragging it down to the floor with him. From there, the cat had managed to get the paper stuck on his paw and panicked. In the course of events that followed, a few people wound up with scratches to their shins and Phoebe's essay wound up consumed by flames.

"That beast is an absolute terror! A menace to society!" Phoebe had raged. "Get him out of my sight, Lizzy, or I just might throw him out the window!"

That was only the first of several incidents. The Menace delighted in hiding under random bits of furniture in Gryffindor Tower and waiting for people to pass by, then jumping out and latching onto their ankles just long enough to trip them before darting off to hide from any retribution. He also frequently flopped himself down on open books, regardless of whether those books were in use or not. If the owner of his latest bed attempted to remove him, Menace fought back quite forcefully. More than a few quills had been destroyed by his need to gnaw.

To appease her housemates, Lizzy banished Menace to the room she and Darcy frequently studied in, so he might annoy them only. She was not overly pleased about having to go out of her way daily to see to Menace's needs, but she enjoyed her time with the cat nonetheless. In opposition to his interactions with other humans, Menace was perfectly pleasant to Lizzy. He seemed content to simply lay in her lap, purr, and sleep while she worked.

* * *

"What has you so very concerned today, Darcy?" Lizzy asked as she and he made their way to Hogsmeade the following weekend.

"Nothing, Elizabeth," Darcy answered automatically.

Lizzy removed her arm from Darcy's and clasped her hands behind her back as a response.

"Fine," Darcy huffed, pulling Lizzy's right hand free from her left and setting it back on his arm. "I am not overly eager to see Richard, and I am sure he will be in attendance today."

"Oh, yes, Albert is looking forward to speaking with Major Fitzwilliam," Lizzy said. "He's talked of little else the past twenty-four hours. I think your cousin may be able to count him as his first victory as a recruiter by the day's end."

"Good. Bentham could use some discipline," Darcy snorted good naturedly.

"Don't think you've gotten out of offering your explanation," Lizzy warned.

Darcy clamped his arm to his side, effectively trapping Lizzy's own limb and preventing another escape. "This will be the first time I have seen Richard since we began courting."

"Oh?"

At the hint of insecurity in Lizzy's voice, Darcy hurried to assure her. "He'll be entirely pleased, I am sure. No, my concern is that he will do his utmost to hog you all afternoon simply to annoy me."

Lizzy laughed. "Albert did that last time and you had no objection."

"Bentham has a very different relationship to me than Richard," Darcy grumbled. "He can only annoy me vaguely. Richard, on the other hand, knows exactly how to push me to my limits."

"Did you not describe him as your closest confidante in all scenarios?" Lizzy asked. "Surely he is not so bad as you are making him out to be."

"Having only sisters, Elizabeth, you cannot understand the intricate relationships that exists between two males that have grown up together. It can sometimes be a very fine line between love and hate."

"_That _I can understand very well," said Lizzy.

"Perhaps so," Darcy conceded, "but the methods by which you and your sisters walk that line is vastly different to those employed by Richard."

"And you have no guilt in the matter?" Lizzy asked knowingly.

"Certainly not so much as him," Darcy objected.

"Well, perhaps it's time you give him a full dose of his own medicine," Lizzy suggested. "You are so reticent and intolerant I would imagine he wins simply by virtue of his endurance in the matter."

"Reticent and intolerant?" Darcy asked haughtily.

"Can you honestly deny it?" Lizzy asked. She patted his arm affectionately after allowing him a moment to think. "Your more amiable qualities make up for those deficiencies, in my opinion, at least."

"I will be well satisfied with that, then," Darcy readily conceded.

The pair chatted easily the rest of the way to the small town.

"Oh, I do need to go to the robe maker," Lizzy said upon catching sight of the store.

"What do you have in mind?" Darcy asked as he changed course. He rather hoped to get a better idea of the exact styles Elizabeth preferred, and perhaps even snatch a copy of her measurements. He would send the information to his own preferred robe maker so he could provide Elizabeth with the occasional random gift.

"Lydia's birthday is just a few days before Easter, and I mean to gift her with her first true set of robes," said Elizabeth. "I hardly think school robes count, and those that she has are not new, anyway."

"Are you not concerned she will lord it over Kitty?" Darcy asked as he held the door open.

"Kitty will have her own new things soon enough," Elizabeth said unconcernedly. "There is no longer such great competition between the two of them, anyway. And if Lydia _does_ decide to be cruel about her gift, then I will take it back and hold on to it until we return to Hogwarts."

Darcy caught the information lurking behind Elizabeth's simple explanation easily enough. If Lydia were gifted a new set of robes at Hogwarts, she would be excited, but appropriately so. If, however, she received the new robes at Longbourn, old habits might resurface. Mrs. Bennet's influence could possibly reduce Kitty and Lydia to their former silly and shallow selves.

Darcy patiently waited and observed while Elizabeth looked through dozens of fabric samples. There were several that she lingered over before declaring they would not suit Lydia. Those he took special note of. After Elizabeth had chosen a fabric, she next sat down with the shopkeeper to decide on a design, then settled on a deadline and a price. Elizabeth declared herself quite pleased as they left the shop.

"Is this to be a joint gift from you and Jane?" Darcy asked as he started toward _The Three Broomsticks_.

"I intend to give the robes to Lydia one way or another, but I will invite Jane to take part in the purchase," Elizabeth answered. Darcy detected a hint of melancholy that Jane was not involved from the beginning.

"Does it greatly distress you, the growing independence of you and Jane?" Darcy asked gently.

Elizabeth smiled at a friend passing in the opposite direction. "This isn't exactly something I would like to discuss out in the open, sir," she said lowly.

"But we will discuss it?" Darcy prodded.

"If you'd like," Elizabeth answered noncommittally.

"I would," Darcy answered. They entered _The Three Broomsticks_ and had been seated all of two minutes before Fitzwilliam plopped down next to Elizabeth.

"I have been told such delightfully exciting news and am so _very_ pleased to see it in action!" Fitzwilliam said by way of greeting.

"Good morning, Major," Elizabeth said with a light laugh.

"How could you leave the seat just beside this beauty open, Darcy?" Fitzwilliam asked with an irritating grin. "I certainly would have sat right next to her, if I were in your shoes. In fact, I did just that."

Darcy rolled his eyes, feeling his patience draining already. As Elizabeth's feet settled lightly on top of his under the table, however, he remembered her recommendation and decided to fight fire with fire. "I thought it might be amusing to let you have the experience, only to rub it in your face that I was only _allowing_ you to occupy _my_ space later, whenever the mood might strike."

"Oh, ho!" Fitzwilliam said gleefully. "And what if it had been some other chap that sat himself here?"

"None would be so foolish," said Darcy lightly. He thanked the young witch that brought three butterbeers to the table, as he had ordered when he and Elizabeth sat. He had known it would only be a matter of time before Fitzwilliam appeared. "All others know that it is _me_ Elizabeth has agreed to court, and so are wise enough to maintain their distance."

Fitzwilliam dropped his jaw theatrically and turned to Elizabeth. "You must not allow him to be so very controlling, Miss Bennet! My cousin may just lock you up and turn you into his own prisoner, if you are not careful."

Darcy felt a metaphorical knife twist in his gut. He carefully avoided showing just how much he was affected by the casual and accurate way Fitzwilliam had expressed what Darcy knew to be a great fear of Elizabeth's: being controlled and at the mercy of someone that did not have her best interests at heart.

Elizabeth pressed her feet reassuringly into Darcy's as she teased Fitzwilliam back. "Perhaps becoming a prisoner is all part of my grand scheme," she said, cocking an eyebrow. "Stranger things have happened."

"Grand scheme?" Fitzwilliam said interestedly. "Now you _must _tell me more."

"I have already said too much," Elizabeth countered. She sipped from her butterbeer and ignored further insistence that she divulge her plan.

"Have you seen Georgiana recently?" Darcy asked, wishing to draw his cousin's attention away from Elizabeth, if only for just a few moments. He was well aware that Fitzwilliam was much more socially able than himself, and he was not overly fond of the stubborn and haunting thoughts that, had Fitzwilliam attended Hogwarts, it very well may have been _him_ that was courting Elizabeth, rather than Darcy.

"I did, just yesterday," Fitzwilliam readily answered. "Mother reports that she is starting to speak more. She even said a full sentence to me. Well, a full sentence as far as Darcys go, meaning three words strung together coherently."

Darcy drew his brows together in agitation. He did not like his sister's recovery to be the subject of any sort of joke.

"I was directed to ask after your new pet, Miss Bennet," Fitzwilliam said, smoothly transitioning his attention back to Elizabeth.

Darcy turned his mug several times as an outlet for his agitation. Fitzwilliam was so very easy in company. If Darcy had a fraction of his cousin's skill, he might have made a better first impression on Elizabeth and been able to enjoy her good opinion for several months longer than he had now. He might have been spared a great deal of pain.

When Albert entered the pub, Darcy was flooded with relief and quickly flagged the new arrival down. Albert soon demanded nearly all of Fitzwilliam's attention, and so Darcy was able to announce his intent to go with Elizabeth to Madam Puddifoot's for a few dances without fear of being followed by his cousin.

Fitzwilliam recognized Darcy's game, and so glared at him playfully before gifting Albert with his undivided attention.

"You are very tense, Darcy," Elizabeth quietly noted as they walked. She turned them away from Madam Puddifoot's and Darcy recognized her attempt to allow them more time to talk in some small amount of privacy.

"I warned you I might become so," Darcy replied. He was not overly eager to discuss his recent thoughts, but welcomed the chance to pull himself together a bit more before entering the crowded assembly hall. Third years and above were all at Hogsmeade this weekend.

"Will you tell me exactly what bothers you so?" Elizabeth asked gently. "I do not like to see you this way, especially as a result of interactions with your cousin. He was not so very terrible, was he?"

"Of course _you_ would not think so," Darcy spat without thinking.

"And just what does _that_ mean?" Elizabeth asked testily, her gentleness quickly abandoned in favor of her temper.

"You've always enjoyed a chance to talk with Richard. I imagine you rather looked forward to the occasions. Sought them out, even," Darcy answered sullenly. He recognized he was already in trouble and decided he might as well give himself a long rope from which to hang.

"What has gotten into you?" Elizabeth said frustratedly. "You cannot possibly be jealous of him!"

Darcy chose to scoff rather than give an actual response.

"You are!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

Darcy flinched as several people glanced their direction.

Elizabeth suddenly pulled Darcy down an ally, then stood before him with her arms crossed, looking as intimidating as she could in all her tiny glory. "I'll have your explanation now," she demanded.

"Elizabeth," Darcy began exasperatedly.

"No, sir," Elizabeth said firmly. "We will not allow our entire day to be ruined because of some silly misunderstanding! We have had enough of those already!"

Darcy sighed and hung his head. Hearing Elizabeth speak in the plural form was a great comfort to him, so he tightly closed his eyes and braced himself to reveal the truth.

"I am jealous," he admitted. "I've never been especially gifted at conversation, as you well know. Seeing you speak so easily with Richard, I cannot help but wonder if you would have chosen differently, had you been exposed to us both at the same time. I cannot help the fear that I would be your second choice."

Several moments passed in which nothing was said, and then Darcy felt a hand on his cheek. He turned into it without thinking.

"I speak easily with Fitzwilliam, true enough," Elizabeth said lowly, "but it is _you_, William, with whom I have chosen to speak _freely._ There have been various young men I have known that converse with a great deal of ease and finesse, and I have enjoyed speaking with them very much. But with _you_, I do not just converse. I _confide_. Even before we began courting, you knew me in ways others did not, figured things out about me that others had not. It took me a long time to recognize it, but I prefer discussion with _you_, and maybe that is because it does not come easily to you, and so I know you are making a very conscious effort to go beyond your level of comfort for me."

Darcy heard all of Elizabeth's speech, and he would remember it, but one thing stuck out above all others. "Say it again," he breathed.

"Which part?" Elizabeth asked sweetly.

"My name."

Elizabeth smiled gently, then impishly. "Darcy? I say it all the time!"

"My _given_ name," Darcy groaned.

"If I were to start calling you Fitzwilliam, then I think there really would be issues with your cousin," Lizzy continued press mercilessly.

"Elizabeth, you are impossible!" Darcy said frustratedly. Yet, he insisted, "_Say it again."_

"Oh, but Darcy, you would not have me bow to your every whim now, would you?" Elizabeth teased. "It was my understanding you enjoyed a good debate, not that you wanted me as a prisoner. Was Fitzwilliam right after all?"

"There are times, Elizabeth, that I almost wish you _were_ my prisoner," Darcy said fervently, grabbing Elizabeth and bringing her to him. At that moment, he very much wished to kiss her senseless, but his respect for her was greater than that. His beloved deserved an honest and pure first kiss that was desired by her as much as by him. Breathing heavily, he tucked Elizabeth's head under his chin and wrapped his arms around her small form.

"Have I managed to ease your discomfort?" came Elizabeth's muffled voice after a few moments.

"Yes," Darcy answered, his heart significantly lighter than it had been when they left _The Three Broomsticks._ "Would you like your dance now?"

"Very much," Elizabeth answered. She wriggled free, then grabbed Darcy's hand and pulled him back onto the street and toward the assembly hall.

Darcy was content to let himself be dragged along. Seeing Elizabeth bound down the streets of Hogsmeade, with a dance with him as her object, was something he would cherish and never grow tired of.

* * *

"Darcy!"

Elizabeth and Darcy both turned to see Albert running to catch up with them on the way back to Hogwarts.

Darcy felt his lips pull into a frown. He had rather hoped to have Elizabet all to himself for the entire walk back. She had again insisted they dance some sets with other people and, while he was not necessarily jealous, he would own he wanted more time with her.

"You've no need to sulk, Darcy," Elizabeth chastised with a smirk. "Albert is a friend, remember."

"Not at the moment," Darcy said lowly. He felt Elizabeth's chuckle more than he heard it, and so was able to hitch a smile to his face and greet Albert pleasantly. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked after basic pleasantries.

"Indeed there is!" Albert enthusiastically replied. He held up an envelope with a Ministry seal. "I've just signed a preliminary agreement to join the Magical Military after graduating Hogwarts!"

"That's wonderful, Albert!" said Elizabeth with a warm smile.

Darcy shook Albert's hand and offered him congratulations.

"It's not all official just yet," said Albert. "I'll still have exams to pass, trainings to complete, and various other odds and ends."

"And I am to help you with one of those?" Darcy asked, coming back around to Albert's request for assistance. He began walking again, and Albert fell into step beside him.

"I've been given to understand you have a fair amount of skill with a blade," said Albert.

Darcy smiled slightly and shook his head. "Was it the Major that told you such?"

"You can't be surprised," said Albert.

"I simply wonder at his describing me as having only a 'fair amount' of skill," said Darcy. "I won't profess to be a true master, but I've certainly emerged victorious more often than not against Fitzwilliam."

"Was that before or after he joined the army?" Elizabeth asked with a raised brow. "Perhaps a rematch is in order."

Darcy snapped his head over to Elizabeth and tried to convey his emotions in his gaze. He well understood that she had chosen him, but that did not mean he was ready to be compared to his cousin by her.

Elizabeth let her brow fall and squeezed Darcy's arm in contrition. "Exactly what are you asking, Albert?" she inquired, poking her head forward to be able to see Albert around Darcy.

Albert had enough sense not to press the issue of Darcy and Fitzwilliam crossing blades after whatever wordless communication Lizzy and Darcy had just shared. Lizzy did not abandon her teases easily. "I was hoping, Darcy, that you might be willing to teach me some basics so I won't make a _complete_ fool of myself in training."

"I am very willing to instruct you, Bentham," Darcy said genially. He rather enjoyed fencing and looked forward to the opportunity to exercise his skill. He had tried a few times to get Bingley to agree to go a few rounds, but Bingley had often been kept from engaging in such by his sister before winter holidays, and now spent so much time with Jane that Darcy thought he would not agree to separate from her.

"Fantastic!" Albert exclaimed. "Are you agreeable to beginning immediately?"

"Immediately?" Darcy repeated.

"Yes," said Albert. "Immediately, as in the moment we step through the gate to Hogwarts."

Darcy looked over to Elizabeth questioningly. They had not settled on any plans for the evening.

Elizabeth looked pleased to be consulted. "I shan't get in the way of Ministry business," she said easily. "I might suggest waiting until after dinner, though, Albert. Darcy can become terribly cross when he's hungry."

Darcy pressed his lips together and tried to look sternly at Elizabeth, but began chuckling when she laughed at his expression. "I threaten to eat Menace _one_ time when he sits on my book, and you say such tendencies are a mark of my character!"

"Oh, it's not just you threatening to eat my cat, Darcy," Elizabeth said mischievously. "Who shall you believe, Albert? Will you wait until after dinner to start training? Or will you risk missing the meal?"

"I always dislike it when my instructors are especially short on their temper," said Albert with mock seriousness. "I think I can wait another hour to begin learning how to handle a sword."

"What did you mean when you said I become cross when hungry?" Darcy asked lowly as he and Elizabeth sat at Gryffindor's table.

"Just that, Darcy," said Elizabeth unconcernedly as she began putting things onto her plate, then onto Darcy's when he continued to stare at her.

"I do _not_ become cross when hungry, or at least no more so than the next person," Darcy argued.

"Oh?" Elizabeth asked lightly. "Let's continue this discussion after you've had a few bites of food."

Darcy tried a few more times to get Elizabeth to elaborate, but she refused. Frustrated, he grabbed his fork and stabbed the green beans on his plate with unwarranted aggression.

"There!" Elizabeth exclaimed, pointing to Darcy's white-knuckled grip. "You see?"

"_This,_" said Darcy, looking to his hand, "is not because I am hungry. It is because I am annoyed that you aren't answering my question."

"You normally enjoy it when I tease you," said Elizabeth smugly.

Darcy mumbled unintelligibly as he started cutting up the meat Elizabeth had served him. Josephine, Phoebe, and Zebulon joined them, and so he swallowed his complaints and focused his energies on attempting to be pleasant. After he had eaten nearly half of what was on his plate, he grudgingly admitted to himself that he felt better, but he refused to concede the point to Elizabeth, even when she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"How will you pass the evening, Phoebe?" Darcy asked after Josephine and Zebulon left to tend to prefect duties.

"I've got a letter from John to answer," Phoebe replied. "He's in the middle of his Grand Tour, you know. He's such a bore, though. Already, he's considering what work he'll find when he gets back. If I were him, I wouldn't spare one moment of thought for it. He was telling me he thought he might apply for a position in Magical Law while at a teahouse in Venice!" She rolled her eyes. "He's never known how to have fun. _Ravenclaws_," she said exaggeratedly.

"I can assure you, Phoebe, that Ravenclaws _do_ know how to have fun," Darcy said lightly. He was impressed by himself, if he were to be honest. Though he had been courting Elizabeth less than a month, he found himself engaging in light-hearted teasing rather easily. "We simply sustain fewer injuries and make less of a mess during the process than you Gryffindors."

"The mess and the injuries are half the fun," Phoebe argued.

"I don't think continuing on this path of conversation will be productive," said Darcy. He ignored Phoebe's response on the predictability of Ravenclaws and turned his attention to Elizabeth beside him. "And you, Elizabeth? How shall you occupy yourself?"

"I intend to come with you," Elizabeth readily answered. "I think it will be highly amusing to see you playing the part of a teacher."

There was something in her voice that made Darcy think there was much more to Elizabeth's tease, but he felt warmed by it and smiled, eager to rise to the challenge. "Well, I would hate to keep you waiting. I am finished eating. Shall we find Albert?" he asked as he rose, then offered his hand to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth exchanged a goodbye with Phoebe, then took Darcy's offered hand. It did not take them long to find Albert and the small party made their way out to the grounds.

"Don't you need to go grab the foils?" Elizabeth asked.

"Do _you_ think it would be wise to trust _Bentham_ with a sword just yet?" Darcy came back with.

"I think I should like to take offense to that, Darcy," Albert declared dramatically.

"Make of it what you will," said Darcy lightly. He gave Elizabeth half a wink, causing her to stifle a laugh at her friend's expense. He felt his grin widen. He so loved when he could make her laugh. "Do you think Fang would mind if we borrowed a few of his fetching sticks?"

"I daresay he will find new ones," said Elizabeth. She looked through one of Hagrid's windows as they approached his cabin. "Hagrid must be out in the forest now. I'd be willing to bet Fang will come back with a brand new stick and forget all his others exist. No, I think we are quite safe."

Darcy examined the various sticks surrounding Hagrid's cabin before finally selecting a pair and handing one off to Albert. Elizabeth settled herself nearby and leaned back on her elbows to observe. Darcy did his best to devote the entirety of his attention to instructing Albert, knowing Elizabeth was watching very closely for whatever it was she hoped to see in him as a teacher.

After nearly an hour, Albert dejectedly stated he had to return to the castle to get cleaned up. He had a Hufflepuff prefect meeting to get to in Sprout's office.

"Well, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked, examining the spots where the bark on his stick had been damaged in his lesson with Albert. He did not quite think he could stomach looking at her while she pronounced judgement on what he was sure was a rather important test of some sort. "How did I fare as an instructor?"

"I think you did very well."

Darcy eagerly swiveled his eyes from his makeshift foil to Elizabeth, who was now standing just a few feet in front of him with a warm, contented expression. He relaxed his shoulders. Whatever it was she had been looking for, he had apparently shown it.

Darcy felt some amount of tension start to build back up in his muscles as mischief lit up Elizabeth's eyes. "What are you up to?" he asked slowly.

With very little warning, Elizabeth swooped down and grabbed the stick Albert had abandoned, holding it at the ready just as Darcy had walked Albert through doing. "Are you willing to attempt instruction with a much more challenging student?"

Darcy felt his face might pull in two from the strength of his grin. He came to a ready position, himself, and crossed his weapon with Elizabeth's. "I think I might be able to manage."

Darcy helped Elizabeth through many of the same things he taught Albert, though he certainly went about it differently. Feeling particularly adventurous, he settled himself directly behind Elizabeth and set her limbs at very exact angles, maintaining multiple points of contact throughout.

"Do you intend to use such methods on Albert, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked archly after Darcy set his chest directly against her back while adjusting her shoulders.

"Certainly not," Darcy answered lowly. "Some students require different approaches."

Elizabeth laughed and, patting his cheek affectionately, said she thought that had been enough for one night.

Darcy did not believe her to be offended by his actions, and so shrugged and tossed his stick back toward Fang's stash before holding his arm for Elizabeth to take. They were soon ambling back toward the castle.

Elizabeth released a contended sigh, and Darcy suddenly found he simply had to know.

"What was it, Elizabeth, that you were watching for while I worked with Bentham?" he asked. "What did you conclude?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you," Elizabeth answered impishly.

"Whyever not?" Darcy asked in mock outrage.

"I would hate to give you too many compliments in too quick a succession and have you return to that prideful shadow from over the summer," said Elizabeth airily. "I rather like this more open and friendly version of Mr. Darcy."

Darcy very purposefully dawned his mask of indifference, knowing how much it irritated Elizabeth when he did so and hoping to provoke her to a response. "If that is how you feel, madam, then I will not press you."

"And you call _me _impossible!" Elizabeth laughed. "Fine, Darcy, come out again and I will tell you."

Darcy smiled at his victory and looked at Elizabeth expectantly.

They had just stepped through the main doors when Elizabeth removed her arm from Darcy's and turned to face him.

"I have noticed a great many admirable traits in watching you interact with Georgiana and am well aware of the care you give her even when you are not near her," said Elizabeth with a soft smile. "I confess I was curious to see if you could show that same gentle persistence with others that are not on your level of understanding, and tonight I saw it with Albert. You explained things to him and gave demonstrations without being obnoxious, pompous, or condescending. You answered all his questions patiently and were genuinely pleased with his successes, even if they seemed small. It was very endearing."

Darcy's mind became somewhat muddled with the pleasure of hearing such praise from Elizabeth. He managed to grasp at enough lucidity to ask, "And has that brought you to a conclusion of some sort?"

"It has," Elizabeth answered. She leaned toward Darcy and said lowly in his ear, "You, Fitzwilliam Darcy, will make a most excellent father."

Darcy thought it rather a lucky thing that Elizabeth had darted off toward Gryffindor Tower before he could regain control of his limbs, because he was certain he would not have been able to refrain from kissing her after such a declaration.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Please accept my apologies for failing to update yesterday. Since the world has exploded into chaos, I am off work at the moment, and therefore my routine has been interrupted and I forgot yesterday was Monday. I'll update Thursday (hopefully).

I hope you enjoyed Lizzy and Darcy's bonding moments!


	26. Chapter 26

The weeks passed quickly. Lizzy and Darcy had a variety of spats, as any couple will do, but they sorted through their issues quickly and become increasingly close. Largely thanks to Lizzy's efforts, however, they did not alienate any of their friends. They continued to eat breakfast with their own housemates and alternate tables for lunch and dinner. Lizzy also insisted that at _least_ once a week she sit with just her sisters for a meal. They frequently studied with others in the library, and Lizzy continued to assure she and Darcy interacted with others, especially on the dance floor, whenever they went to Hogsmeade.

Fencing lessons with Albert continued, though Darcy had felt compelled to ask Elizabeth to leave him and Albert be. He had struggled with whether or not to answer when Elizabeth asked why, but ultimately decided to tell her the truth: he could not concentrate on Albert when he knew Elizabeth was there thinking of him as a father. She had blushed violently and agreed not to observe Albert's lessons anymore, though she did demand instruction from him in their tower whenever she wanted a break from studying. Such impromptu bouts of fencing practice always ended up being interesting, as Menace wove himself around their feet at the most inopportune of moments.

Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw faced each other on the Quidditch pitch with Ravenclaw just barely winning. Higgins had been almost insufferable in Albert's presence for a week after, but their rivalry eventually became friendly again and the two houses were able to coexist peacefully. Lizzy had enjoyed watching the match immensely, as she was able to notice a great many things about Ravenclaw's team that she had not in their weekly scrimmages. She was cautiously optimistic about Gryffindor's odds when it came their turn to play Ravenclaw.

Two weeks before Easter break was to start, Caroline finally approached Bingley and they had a civil, if strained, conversation. In the days following, the pair came to some sort of truce, the terms of which only Bingley, Caroline, and Jane knew, and Bingley announced that Caroline would be returning to Netherfield with him.

"Perhaps you would rather stay in London," Elizabeth ventured after watching Caroline scan Darcy up and down after Bingley shared the news.

Darcy furrowed his brows and looked down at Elizabeth, feeling angry with the suggestion. As he observed her own tense expression that was directed at Caroline, however, he fought a smirk. "Surely you're not jealous, Elizabeth?"

"Certainly not!" Elizabeth snapped.

Darcy had to roll his lips in and bite them to keep himself from snickering.

"I'm _not_," Elizabeth insisted, turning her fiery gaze toward Darcy. "I have no fears you would choose Caroline over me, but that does _not_ mean I approve of _that_ look she gave!"

"Does this mean you are ready to admit I'm handsome?" Darcy asked, raising a brow in imitation of Elizabeth.

Elizabeth huffed and resolutely turned her head away.

Just a few days before the students were to leave, Elizabeth and Darcy sat in conference with Jane, Bingley, and Mary at a secluded table in the library.

"Reggie and Louisa have said that everything seems perfectly safe around Longbourn," said Bingley, holding up his most recent letter from his older sister. "Louisa has visited Mrs. Bennet a fair few times, as well as other ladies, and has heard no reason to be concerned. Reggie has ridden the area twice in the last week alone and has nothing to report."

"My sources say the same," Darcy said unhappily, thinking of the reports he had received only that morning from the three magical servants he had sent to Hertfordshire, one of which had been hired temporarily at Longbourn.

"This is a good thing, is it not?" Jane asked. "Why do you all seem so very concerned?"

"Oh, Jane, you still think so well of everyone," Elizabeth sighed, then smiled sadly at her sister.

"The longer we go without news of Wickham or Malfoy, the more concerned we ought to become," Darcy said as he rolled his fingers across the tabletop. "Neither of them take defeat well, and both are currently in dire straits. Desperate men are the most dangerous."

"It seems to me as though we have done nearly everything we can to prepare," Jane reasoned. "Reggie, Louisa, and Darcy can all use their wands freely, in addition to those that you sent, Darcy. Lizzy and I can keep our wands on us the entire time we are home, just in case. I do _not_ think it would be right to abandon the trip now because of the _fear_ that something might happen. I will not live that way," she said sternly, looking at Bingley.

Bingley patted Jane's hand. "I wouldn't want you to, Jane."

Elizabeth arched her brow expectantly at Darcy.

"We've argued this enough, Elizabeth," said Darcy through his teeth. "I have already agreed to your terms, and you to mine."

"Terms?" Bingley asked interestedly. "What terms are these?"

"Darcy has agreed not to behave as my personal shadow while we are in Hertfordshire," Elizabeth said pompously. "He will, instead, behave as though he is there to support Bingley, and I will act as I normally do when home." Elizabeth bobbed her head to the side before adding, "Or as normally I can, considering how things stand between me and my parents."

"And you?" Bingley asked, turning to Darcy.

Mary suddenly bit down on her fingers to keep herself from laughing, though she still spluttered a bit around her improvised gag.

"At the first sign of trouble, I throw Elizabeth onto the back of a thestral and lock her up in one of Pemberley's cellars for the duration of the break," Darcy said, crossing his arms and arching his eyebrows at Elizabeth.

"Mr. Darcy!" Jane exclaimed in shock as Bingley and Mary dissolved into a fit of laughter.

"It won't come to that, Jane," Elizabeth said with a wave of her hand.

Darcy grabbed Elizabeth's hand in both of his before she could set it back down. "But those are the terms you agreed to," he growled.

"Yes, yes, Darcy," Elizabeth said while rolling her eyes. "Should a rabbit dare to dart across my path without noticeable provocation on one of my walks, you may whisk me away to a prison safeguarded by a dragon."

"The Darcys haven't had a dragon for several generations now, but perhaps I should look into what it would take to acquire another," said Darcy. "And I shall be with you on your walks."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes again. "We came to terms on that, too, remember. You _cannot_ be seen from the house! Mrs. Bennet would lose her mind."

Darcy felt familiar anger beginning to claw at his insides at the mention of Mrs. Bennet, and so quickly changed the subject before he could get himself into trouble. "What else needs to be discussed?"

"Kitty and Lydia," Mary quickly supplied. "We need to settle on what they can know. I think we should simply tell them all, that way they can be on their guard."

"I don't think they need to know _everything_," Elizabeth countered. "I wouldn't want them fearful in their own home!"

"Lydia, fearful?" Mary snorted.

Elizabeth sneered playfully at Mary in reply.

"I agree with Lizzy," said Jane. "Kitty and Lydia have both grown considerably at Hogwarts. I think it would be fair to give them the credit of trusting them to follow a set of rules that we state explicitly are for their safety, rather than scare them into submission. We can consider this a trial of sorts, even. We are only away a week for Easter. Let us see how they behave now, and we can adjust plans for the summer."

Bingley and Darcy wisely refrained from commenting unless asked as the three elder Bennet sisters discussed how to best approach the youngest two.

Once details were settled on how to handle Kitty and Lydia, Darcy offered to transport everyone back to Hertfordshire in his carriage.

"Oh, no, I think we had better take Piper's," Elizabeth said quickly. She patted Darcy's arm as she continued her explanation, "We Bennets need to be _seen_ driving back into the area. Piper will drop us off at the inn he usually does and we will hire a coach from there. You, Charles, and Caroline can take your thestral-drawn directly to Netherfield's stables."

"We could make a stop to trade out the thestrals," Darcy pressed.

"Darcy, no," said Elizabeth with finality. After allowing a moment for her refusal to settle, she smiled archly. "You will just have to deal with Caroline on your own."

Darcy's face contorted to a devilish grin. "Are you sure that's what you want, Miss Not Jealous?"

"You're entering dangerous waters, Darcy," Mary cautioned.

Darcy thought the danger was worth it for the possessive glean in Elizabeth's eyes.

* * *

Lizzy, Jane, and Mary waited until they were only two hours from Longbourn before talking to Kitty and Lydia about everything they had agreed on. The youngest Bennet girls were told that Lizzy had come to a truce with Mrs. Bennet and that they should behave toward their mother without reference to their second eldest sister's last interaction with the woman.

"But Mama was being so unreasonable!" Kitty exclaimed.

"How could she think we would let Lizzy marry that odious Mr. Collins?" Lydia argued.

"Enough, Kitty. Enough, Lydia," said Lizzy firmly. "If I can set it aside, you can certainly do so. She is your mother and will be treated with the appropriate respect." She felt somewhat guilty with the lie that she had set the issue aside. Being cast out by her mother was still incredibly painful, but Lizzy had made up her mind to assure whatever peace she could, and so swallowed her own pride for her sisters.

Jane squeezed Lizzy's hand before starting on the subject of safety. She admitted to Kitty and Lydia that everyone was still worried for Lizzy and made the girls promise to keep their sisters appraised of their whereabouts at all times. Furthermore, they were made to swear they would not leave sight of the house without Jane, Lizzy, or Mary. Lydia had fought the order with Jane and Lizzy for a solid five minutes before Mary lost patience and harshly interfered, though the interference was certainly effective for ending Lydia's ranting.

"Are you ready, Lizzy?" Jane whispered into her sister's ear as the hired carriage began slowing to a stop in Longbourn's drive. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were coming out the front door.

Lizzy felt her chest tighten considerably at the sight of her parents, but she forced herself to nod to Jane.

Jane was not fooled. "Mary," she said at a normal volume, "stay with Lizzy. I will handle Mama."

Mary nodded her understanding.

Mrs. Bennet began her excited cries the moment the carriage door opened and could not urge her daughters out fast enough. Kitty greeted her mother pleasantly and earned an affectionate pinch on her cheek.

"Lydia, child! How you've grown!" Mrs. Bennet exclaimed, pulling Lydia into a hug.

"Hello, Mama," Lydia said coolly.

"Is that any way to greet your mama?" Mrs. Bennet asked.

Jane quickly stepped from the carriage and greeted her mother as though absolutely nothing was amiss. Lizzy had to admire the acting skills of her sister. Jane had always been able to smooth over any situation.

While Jane continued to occupy Mrs. Bennet, Lizzy climbed out of the hired carriage with Mary and looked around. Things seemed different. Trees that had long been overgrown had offending limbs removed. The drive looked more even. Several windows had been replaced. Lizzy looked to Mary with a raised brow. Mary, in reply, glanced to Mr. Bennet, who was only just being seen to by Kitty and Lydia.

Lizzy allowed herself to look shocked for the briefest of moments before schooling her features again. Had Mr. Bennet actually put forth more than the bare minimal effort to keep the house and farm running? Perhaps there was hope for him keeping the promise he had written about, after all.

"Mama," Lizzy said civilly after Mary had suffered through Mrs. Bennet's attentions.

"Lizzy," Mrs. Bennet replied, her expression and tone suddenly devoid of the enthusiasm that had been used on her other children.

"I see you are well," Lizzy said in attempts to draw her mother into some sort of conversation.

Mrs. Bennet looked to Mr. Bennet, who frowned and shook his head at her, before answering. "I am healthy, yes," Mrs. Bennet said shortly.

Lizzy decided that would be enough and moved on to her father. Before she could say a single word, he drew her into an embrace. Lizzy found herself completely and totally surprised. Her father squeezed her hands, patted her shoulder, or kissed her cheek or forehead often when she was home, but she could not clearly remember the last time he had hugged her.

"I am glad you've come back, Lizzy," Mr. Bennet said into her ear.

Part of Lizzy wanted to cry and cling to her father, but another part, the hardened part that worked to keep her from hurt, strangled the comfort she felt and compelled her to pull from her father's arms. "It is good to see you, Papa," she allowed herself to say.

Mr. Bennet's eyes clearly showed the hurt Lizzy's cool manner inflicted, but the sad and self-deprecating smile he offered her admitted his guilt.

The inside of the house showed as much improvement as the outside. Lizzy noticed immediately that some wallpaper had been redone. She allowed herself a moment of amusement with the thought that permitting Mrs. Bennet to pick a new wallpaper might have been a reward from Mr. Bennet for good behavior.

"What is in that basket, Miss Lizzy?"

Lizzy turned at the strident tones of her mother and looked down at the basket she had forgotten was hanging from her arm. "My cat," she said unwillingly.

"Cat?" Mrs. Bennet squealed. "Not in the main house!"

"Oh, Menace is a sweetheart!" Lydia declared. She fearlessly reached into the basket and withdrew Menace, who looked less than pleased at being disturbed, though he remained pliant. Menace tolerated Lydia's attentions well enough. He had learned that she was as stubborn as he was.

"Menace?" Mrs. Bennet asked, her voice pitching up an octave and causing Mary to wince.

"Lydia, please put Menace back," Lizzy evenly demanded. "He will stay in my room, Mama. I could not very well leave him at school."

Lydia stroked Menace a few more times before settling him back in Lizzy's basket, all without complaint. Lizzy did not miss the fact that her father raised his brow in response to Lydia's quick compliance.

The Bennet sisters begged off to refresh themselves after their long journey. Lizzy had been just about to open the door to her bedroom when Jane walked by and grabbed her wrist.

"You'll be staying with me, Lizzy," Jane said decidedly.

"Jane, I can – "

"This is an entirely selfish decision on my part," Jane interrupted. "I want to enjoy a few nights spent with my sister before a date is set for my wedding. This way, we can simply enjoy the time rather than counting down days."

Lizzy allowed herself to laugh and entered Jane's room. She rolled her eyes good naturedly when she saw that Jane had already arranged for her trunk to be brought into the room.

Jane took Lizzy's basket, set it off to the side on the floor, and opened it so Menace might be able to get out and stretch his legs whenever he so chose. She then jumped onto her bed and patted the spot beside her. "Come, now. Let's dissect our reception home."

"I think not," Lizzy said as she opened her trunk and began pulling things out. "Let us simply say it went very much as we both honestly expected and be done with it. Am I allowed into my room at all to put things away, or shall I just take over all your space?"

Jane frowned at Lizzy's avoidance, but seemed to think better of arguing. "I suppose I will let you put some of your things in your room," she said with an exaggerated sigh. "It would be better for you to think of the space as a glorified closet while we are here, however. I am determined you will sleep with me and expect to hear no argument to the contrary."

"Yes, Head Girl," Lizzy said with mocking obsequiousness.

Lizzy and Jane giggled as they moved Lizzy's trunk in the most awkward method possible and had to start grasping their sides from laughing when Menace darted out the open door. It took all five sisters working collectively to corner the cat and stuff him back into his basket, a fate he was most certainly _not_ happy about.

Gasping for breath, Lizzy and Jane finally got Lizzy's trunk into her own room and started unpacking the items within.

"Jane, give me a moment with Lizzy."

Lizzy felt all the air go out of her as she looked at her father, hands clasped behind his back, in her doorway.

Jane grasped Lizzy's hand and looked at her questioningly. Only after Lizzy nodded did Jane leave the room, though she gave her father an uncharacteristically stern look before doing so.

Mr. Bennet gently closed Lizzy's door. "How have you been enjoying school?" he asked uncomfortably.

"I don't think there is any point in prevaricating, sir," Lizzy said flatly. She stood tall and proud with her arms crossed. She found she lacked the patience to ease her father into the conversation he was gearing toward. She wanted to simply get it done and over with.

"Did you read that letter, Lizzy?" Mr. Bennet asked after recovering from being addressed in such a manner by his daughter.

"Yes," Lizzy answered simply. She was rather lacking in charity, also, and did not want to make things easy for her father at the moment.

Mr. Bennet nodded in acknowledgement of Lizzy's answer, then fell into deep thought. As he considered his next statement, he wandered further into the room and sat in a chair by the window.

Lizzy waited a few moments to see if Mr. Bennet would speak again, then shrugged and continued putting her things away. He would speak when he was ready, or he would leave without further comment. Either way, she was not going to press him on the subject.

Lizzy's trunk was nearly empty before Mr. Bennet spoke again.

"I meant what I wrote, Lizzy," Mr. Bennet said quietly. "I am so very sorry that I did not interfere more forcefully on your behalf. Since you left with your sisters – "

"I did not choose to leave," Lizzy interrupted coolly. "I was thrown out."

Mr. Bennet bowed his head, conceding Lizzy's point. "Since your mother sent you away, and since your sisters went with you, I have come to realize how abysmally I have failed in my roles as a father, husband, and landowner. Ever since Mrs. Bennet and I gave up on having any sons, I have allowed myself to become increasingly lazy, laboring under the misplaced belief that whatever I did could have little effect on any others."

When Mr. Bennet paused to offer Lizzy a chance to make comments, she only cocked an eyebrow.

"I have been a great fool, Lizzy, and I hope you may eventually be able to forgive me for the pain I have caused you by way of my indifference," Mr. Bennet said thickly.

Lizzy noticed her father was on the cusp of crying and, again, was of two minds. Part of her wanted to rush to console him and assure him all would be well, and the other part of her was infuriated by his late epiphanies and thought he rather deserved to be miserable.

"I have been in pain," Lizzy chose to admit. "I have no wish to attempt to explain to you the depth of emotion I have felt the past months due to Mrs. Bennet's thoughtlessness and your apathy." Mr. Bennet flinched, but Elizabeth plowed on. "I had thought I would be able to count on you as an ally when Mrs. Bennet finally crossed the border into the realm of the truly insensible. When you only watched as I rode away with my sisters, I realized I was completely alone and untethered with no one to act as my protector." She recognized her voice sounded cold and detached, and she knew her face matched. Though she did not show it, she recognized in that moment she had adopted Darcy's preferred method of protection from emotions.

"I'm so sorry, Lizzy," Mr. Bennet said miserably, putting his face into his hands. "Please forgive me."

"I no longer need you in my life," Elizabeth said, and she realized she meant it. At that very moment, she could walk out of Longbourn, never to return, and she would be able to make her own way in the world. She knew she had the support of her sisters, of Bingley as a brother, of her closest friends, of her professors. Of Darcy. "Whether or not you remain a part of my life is entirely dependent on you, sir. Actions speak louder than words."

Mr. Bennet sniffed greatly as he again exposed his face. A numbness overtook Elizabeth, and so she only looked at the tears streaking down his cheeks with cold indifference.

"I wish to be a part of your life, and those of your sisters, no matter how silly they might be." Mr. Bennet's lips twitched upward ever so slightly with the jest he had used frequently in years past to some amount of success.

"You are mistaken, sir," said Elizabeth evenly. "I have no silly sisters. Not any longer." Mr. Bennet's joke had the complete opposite effect of the one he desired. Elizabeth turned her back on him to begin properly arranging her schoolbooks on a shelf. She heard Mr. Bennet rise a few moments later, and he left without any further words spoken.

After hearing the door close, Lizzy heaved a great sigh of frustration. She threw her Astronomy book onto her mattress with all her strength to great effect. The action left her feeling more clearheaded.

When the door opened again, Lizzy did not even have to turn to look to see who had entered. "Not now, Mary, please," she said shortly.

"I thought you might like to know that Darcy is in the trees just beyond the stables, presently," Mary said quietly. "He hopes you might join him."

Lizzy scoffed in annoyance as she felt a tear fall down her cheek. She wiped it away irritably and sniffed, determined to keep herself from falling apart completely.

"Lizzy, go," Mary urged gently. "Please."

Lizzy simply stood and stared at the ceiling, blinking rapidly with gritted teeth, for several moments before stamping her foot and grabbing her bonnet to jam it onto her head. When she began fighting with the ribbons, Mary came forward and carefully pushed her sister's hands out of the way and tied it herself, then held Lizzy's outerwear for her.

"Thank you," Lizzy tried to say kindly.

"Mama is in the parlor, so take the long way out so she doesn't see you," Mary suggested.

Lizzy nodded once. She did not feel up to speaking, presently.

"Elizabeth! Dear God, what's happened?" Darcy asked as soon as he caught sight of Lizzy.

Lizzy shook her head and stomped past Darcy without stopping. He simply fell into step beside her. She could feel him look at her concernedly nearly every other step.

"Please, Elizabeth, tell me – "

Lizzy cut Darcy off with a sharp glare and picked up speed until finally breaking into a run. She knew he would follow.

The woods around her childhood home were so familiar Lizzy was able to get herself safely to one of her favorite clearings without thought and without incident. She had hardly stopped before Darcy pulled her into a tight embrace and she began sobbing into his chest.

When Lizzy finally regained equilibrium, she was kneeling in the dirt and leaves, still in Darcy's arms, with no recollection of lowering herself to the ground. She realized her bonnet had come off at the same time she recognized Darcy humming a lullaby.

"Will you tell me now?" Darcy asked gently after finishing his tune.

Lizzy sighed and pulled herself free so she could fidget and use her hands freely as she repeated her conversation with Mr. Bennet.

"I think you spoke well, Elizabeth," Darcy offered.

Lizzy nodded and absentmindedly drew figures in the dirt. "I feel relieved, I think." She bit her lip as she considered her statement and was thankful Darcy did not interrupt her processing. "I told him what has been on my mind. I do not like causing him pain, but I cannot regret my speech. It's all just so much to deal with," she said frustratedly, gesturing wildly at her head.

Darcy gave a soft chuckle at Lizzy's antics. "I have hope for him, I suppose," he said as he casually extended an arm over the single knee he had raised from the ground. "Your sound rebuffs have proved rather effective on men that have cared for you in the past."

Lizzy smirked at Darcy's comment and observed his form. "You look rather dashing when you strike that pose, Darcy," she said, choosing to redirect the conversation rather than dwell on their last conversation in the trees of Hertfordshire.

Darcy looked his relaxed pose over quickly. "Handsome, even?" he asked annoyingly.

Lizzy rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. She did like it when he joked with her.

"Am I to 'ask' Mr. Bennet for a courtship, still?" Darcy asked after watching Lizzy draw a few more patterns.

Lizzy sighed and looked back to Darcy's face. "I will _ask_ nothing of him, and neither will you," she said decidedly. "If you would like, when you and Charles come to call, we can go to him in his bookroom and inform him."

"Will you allow me the opportunity to speak to him alone?" Darcy asked cautiously.

"That depends on your intention," Lizzy countered.

Darcy shrugged. "I simply want to speak to him, as Muggles would, man to man with the purpose of letting him know you will be cared for with or without him."

Lizzy drew her brows together. "That sounds suspiciously like you would be informing him of an impending marriage," she said shrewdly.

Darcy inhaled sharply. "That thought certainly has appeal," he admitted. "I have too much respect for you to try to take advantage of your raw emotions, however. No, I only mean to let Mr. Bennet know that you do not _need_ him for _anything_, thus further discouraging him from slipping back to indolence."

Lizzy was greatly mollified by Darcy's declaration of respect for her person, and so she smiled brightly at him. "_That_ you can certainly do with me in the room, Darcy," she said.

"I thought the message might be received differently if it were exchanged only between me and him," Darcy reasoned.

"Perhaps so," Lizzy conceded, "but I will not give Mr. Bennet the opportunity to affront your honor by asking after your intentions and attempting to tease you. We will stay together for the entirety of the interview."

"And if he asks me to leave?"

Lizzy's face clouded with anger. "As I told him, I no longer need him in my life. And as I told you, I will not be consulting my parents regarding my decisions. If he demands you leave or refuses 'permission,' then – "

"I meant leave the _room_, Elizabeth," Darcy interrupted with a slight smile.

"Oh," Lizzy said with a blush. "I will interpret such a request as an end to the conversation and we will both leave."

Darcy nodded. "How is Menace this afternoon?"

Lizzy felt a great deal of relief as conversation moved onto the ordinary. The sun had changed positions quite noticeably by the time she finally rose and said goodbye to Darcy. He promised he and Bingley would call early the next day.

"Where have you _been_, Lizzy?" Mrs. Bennet shrieked almost as soon as Lizzy walked through the door.

"Out," Lizzy said simply. Remaining cool and collected, she removed her gloves and had started on her bonnet before Mrs. Bennet began again.

"Have you no consideration for my poor nerves? To be gone for so long, and without any indication of where you would be! I insist you cease such nonsense, Lizzy! I have never liked it."

"You managed months without confirmation of my whereabouts, madam," Lizzy said coolly, "I should hardly think a few hours could cause you distress." She hung her outerwear and left her mother gaping like a fish in the entryway.

* * *

Dinner was a highly uncomfortable affair. Mrs. Bennet tried many times to draw Lydia into talking of neighborhood gossip to no success and became increasingly frustrated. She tried Kitty, as well, with many a sideways look at Lydia to see if her youngest would engage due to jealousy, but failed there also. She skipped over Mary entirely. Lizzy she looked at in consideration, but moved on in favor of Jane after a stern look from Mr. Bennet.

"Jane, dear, now that you have come home, we shall set a date for your wedding and get the banns started," Mrs. Bennet declared.

"We may set a date, Mama, but there is no cause to read the banns yet," said Jane. "Mr. Bingley and I will not be married before the end of June."

"So long?" Mrs. Bennet asked shrilly. "You have already been engaged _three_ months!"

"And I shall be so at least another three," Jane calmly replied. "Mr. Bingley and I do not want to marry before school is finished."

Mrs. Bennet waved her hand through the air as if trying to fan a bad odor away. "What is school to a wedding? Come now, Jane! You will send for the rest of your things and remain here at Longbourn until you're married."

"I will not," Jane said firmly.

Mrs. Bennet drew breath to argue further, but was interrupted by her husband.

"Mrs. Bennet, that is enough," Mr. Bennet stated.

Mrs. Bennet looked as though she had swallowed something exceptionally bitter, though she abandoned the subject.

"Kitty, Lydia, tell your papa of your time away," Mr. Bennet requested.

Kitty and Lydia exchanged confused glances with each other, then their elder sisters. They had grown used to their father begging for their silence, not asking them for details.

"I have enjoyed school very much," Kitty said after an encouraging nod from Jane. "I have a great many friends, and my head of house says I am doing exceptionally well in my studies."

"And she is not alone in such opinions," Jane added with a pleased smile.

Kitty beamed at the praise, then turned and gave her attention to Lydia.

"I did not like it at first," Lydia admitted, "but I love Hogwarts so dearly now. There is always such fun to be had!" Now that the girl had started speaking, she gained energy and could not wait to tell tales of her adventures. "Just last week, Travis Finch and I had a bet on who could make it from Charms to the Great Hall the fastest. He took a wrong secret passageway and was good and lost for a full fifteen minutes! It was ever so fun to laugh at him for it. How embarrassing to get lost after being at Hogwarts for so many months!"

"I hope you did not tease him too badly, Lydia," said Lizzy with an arched brow. "You may very well find yourself getting lost at some point. Those corridors can be monstrously tricky if you don't pay close attention."

"La, I haven't been lost since the beginning of November!" Lydia laughed.

"And have you had opportunity to practice dancing with Mr. Travis Finch?" Mrs. Bennet asked interestedly, inserting herself into the conversation.

Lydia snorted. "Dance with Travis? Certainly not! I had much rather learn to play Quidditch!"

"I did not know you were interested in playing, Lydia," Lizzy said eagerly.

"Well, you've been so busy with – Ow!" Lydia glared at Mary, who must have kicked her under the table. She took a deep breath before returning her attention to Lizzy. "I would like to learn."

Lizzy released the breath she had not realized she had been holding and was ever so grateful for Mary's well-timed interference. "What position do you think you might try for?"

Lydia grinned wickedly. "Beater," she said conspiratorially.

"Beater?" Mrs. Bennet asked sharply as Lizzy laughed delightedly. "That does not sound like an appropriate role for a young lady!"

Lizzy chose to ignore her mother's objection. "You have your work cut out for you, Lydia! Levi is the oldest out of him and Julian, and he's only a fourth year! You've certainly got some work to do to outperform either of them, and you'll have to outperform them, since neither is leaving any time soon! I happen to know the team captain very well, you see, and they will not go easy on you when it comes time for tryouts."

Lydia giggled. "La! Gryffindor's captain is such a tedious bore!"

All the Bennet sisters fell to various stages of amusement. Lydia and Kitty giggled freely while Jane and Mary stifled laughter with their napkins. Lizzy looked challengingly at her youngest sister, though her eyes shone with joy at the joke.

Mrs. Bennet, of course, had to have her share of the conversation. "Lydia, I forbid you from participating in such a role, or in the sport at all! It is simply unbecoming and I will not have it from any of my daughters," she said with finality. "What man would want a wife that would boast of being a 'beater?'"

"Oh, it's very common for girls to play at Hogwarts, Mama," Kitty assured. "There's even a professional Quidditch team made of just women, the Holyhead Harpies!"

"Harpies!" Mrs. Bennet squealed.

"What should I care for finding a husband, anyway?" Lydia asked. "I can have just as much fun, if not more, as an unmarried witch than one with a husband."

Mrs. Bennet looked as though she might pass out at a moment's notice, or suffer a fatal apoplexy, as a result of Lydia's exclamation.

"How are the Gouldings?" Jane asked a little louder than was necessary.

Mrs. Bennet did not recover her spirits.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Get wrekt, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Hope you enjoyed the domestic view of the Bennets! Please be sure to leave a review with your comments and suggestions.


	27. Chapter 27

"Jane! Here comes Mr. Bingley!" Kitty said excitedly. She had been perched on the window seat for well over an hour, sketching in a book Jane had given her for just such a purpose.

Mrs. Bennet, who had been quite out of sorts since dinner the previous evening, suddenly recovered all her vigor at the announcement. "Jane! You did not say Mr. Bingley would be coming!"

Jane was not even offered the chance to come up with an excuse or apology as Mrs. Bennet began fluttering about the room. She called for Hill, straightened things that did not need attention, and adjusted the neckline of Jane's gown, though Jane quickly set it back when Mrs. Bennet turned away.

"Does anyone come with him, Kitty?" Lizzy asked while her mother continued moving about. She had seated herself in the corner with one of her Transfiguration books, though she no longer bothered to disguise it. She, Jane, and Mary had agreed they would speak more freely at Longbourn now that Kitty and Lydia had joined them at Hogwarts.

Kitty gave Lizzy a knowing look and twitched her eyebrows. "He brings neither of his sisters, but Mr. Darcy is with him."

"Mr. Darcy?" Mrs. Bennet asked tightly. She bumped Kitty in her hurry to look out the window. "So it is," she said unenthusiastically. "Well, we shall tolerate him as best we can, for Mr. Bingley's sake, though I cannot imagine why he chooses to keep such unpleasant company!"

Lizzy gave Kitty a warning look when the young girl looked ready to burst out in laughter and objection. She was glad for the distraction, as she was not very happy to hear such a declaration from her mother.

When Bingley and Darcy were announced, Mrs. Bennet quickly settled herself in her usual chair and did her best to look as though she had not just been dashing about the room like a madwoman.

"Mr. Bingley!" Mrs. Bennet gushed. "You are very welcome here! What a great pleasure it is to see you!"

"I am happy to be at Longbourn," said Bingley in reply. Lizzy appreciated his graceful way of dancing around saying he was pleased to see Mrs. Bennet and noted that his eyes did not sparkle quite so much as they usually did.

"And Mr. Darcy, you are welcome too," said Mrs. Bennet in a barely civil tone.

Mr. Darcy gave a slight bow in acknowledgement.

Lizzy could immediately sense how very uncomfortable Darcy was, and she found herself feeling much the same. She very much wanted him to come sit by her and greet her by kissing her hand, but knew such could not happen. Mrs. Bennet was barely tolerable now. If she were to discover their courtship, she would become absolutely insufferable.

Mr. Darcy's eyes did not scan the room. After grinding out a greeting to Mrs. Bennet, he made his way directly to the window at which Kitty was not seated and stared out at the garden with his hands clasped tightly behind his back.

Suddenly, Kitty was beside Lizzy to serve as a welcome distraction, both from desire to alleviate Darcy's unhappiness and from Mrs. Bennet's one-sided conversation with Bingley. "Lizzy, I am determined to add a creature to this drawing," Kitty said in a low, firm voice. "I am in need of your opinion, for I am not sure what would look best."

Lizzy welcomed the whispered conversation with Kitty. The pair eventually settled on hinkypunks, and Kitty was delighted to begin on the challenge. With everyone so well settled, Lizzy thought it might finally be safe to approach Darcy without arousing suspicion from her mother. She poured a cup of tea from the tray Mrs. Bennet had ordered, pleased that Darcy had ignored it before so she had an excuse to tend him.

"Is the garden so very fascinating?" Lizzy asked lowly upon coming to the window and offering Darcy the cup she had prepared.

Darcy took the tea without looking at Lizzy. "There are other things I would prefer to observe, but I do not think I would handle myself very well," he said from behind his indifferent mask.

"Oh?" Lizzy asked lightly with a raised brow. She took a sip from her own cup before elaborating, as she knew Darcy was waiting for her to do. "I have stood many times where you now stand, sir, and, if I remember correctly, the table at which Kitty currently sits and I only just vacated reflects rather clearly in the glass of the window."

"I have found the reflections offered by this window particularly bewitching, though the original is much more to my liking," Darcy said, mostly into his cup.

Lizzy quickly brought her own cup to her face to hide her smile. After regaining equilibrium, she set the cup back on its saucer and said quietly, "I am going to go check on Lydia, as I have not seen her in a few hours, and will then await you in my father's bookroom."

Darcy sighed almost imperceptibly. "Very well. I will follow in a few minutes."

Lizzy checked all of Lydia's usual haunts within the house to no success and began to become concerned that the girl had left despite promising not to. When she saw Hill, she leapt at the opportunity to gain information. "Mrs. Hill, have you seen Lydia recently?"

"Miss Lydia has been in with Mr. Bennet for quite some time now, Miss Lizzy," Hill readily replied.

"In with Mr. Bennet?" Lizzy asked, completely failing to mask her shock.

"I brought her, myself, when Mr. Bennet asked for her," Hill elaborated.

Lizzy shook her head to clear it. "Thank you, Hill." She made her way to her father's bookroom, knocked, and entered upon receiving invitation to do so. She froze halfway through opening the door, so surprised was she by the sight that greeted her: Lydia was sitting across a chessboard from Mr. Bennet.

"Lizzy!" Lydia exclaimed. "Have you come to save me? Papa has insisted I play with him, but I do not get on at all."

"You must practice patience and think ahead in order to understand the game and have a chance at winning, Lydia," Mr. Bennet said amusedly.

"I hardly think this is much of a game at all," Lydia snorted. "Honestly, I think I'd rather be in History of Magic!"

"I did not come with the intention of saving you, Lydia, but I would like to talk to Papa," Lizzy said. She felt much better for knowing Lydia had not requested to play chess. She was not sure how she could have made sense of such a thing.

"Well, Lydia, I suppose that is enough for today," said Mr. Bennet. "You would have lost in another three moves, in any case."

Lydia flicked her king over as she stood. "And he can stay dead, for all I care," she said with a sniff, then walked out.

Mr. Bennet chuckled lowly. "Are you sure you no longer have any silly sisters, Lizzy?"

Lizzy fought the urge to smile. Lydia was still Lydia, just in a much more reasonable capacity. "Lydia does not particularly enjoy exercises that are strictly mental. She does very well with physical challenges, however."

"You have spent a great deal of time observing her, then?" Mr. Bennet asked as he began resetting his board.

"Lydia and I are in the same house at Hogwarts," Lizzy answered. "We have become rather close."

"You have been coaching her, then," said Mr. Bennet.

Lizzy felt a flare of anger she could not quite explain and responded flatly, "I have been parenting her."

The air of levity Mr. Bennet had been managing dissipated immediately and he fell back heavily into his chair. "Well," he said hoarsely after a few moments, "you have been doing a fine job with Lydia."

"And Jane with Kitty," Lizzy added.

"Is this what you came to discuss?" Mr. Bennet asked after clearing his throat.

"No," Lizzy answered. "It was not my intention to discuss any extra responsibilities that Jane or I have assumed. I have not come to discuss anything, really."

Before Mr. Bennet could ask what his daughter meant, a knock sounded. Lizzy opened the door without consulting her father to allow Mr. Darcy entry.

"You are aware that Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy attend Hogwarts with us?" Lizzy asked.

"I am," said Mr. Bennet. He looked calculatingly at the couple in front of him and some hints of anxiety began to display themselves.

Lizzy took a deep breath to brace herself and then said, "Mr. Darcy and I have resolved our former misunderstandings and have grown quite fond of each other. We are courting, Papa."

Mr. Bennet's eyebrows rose dramatically. "This is certainly an unconventional way of going about the business of discussion with a young lady's father," he said to Mr. Darcy.

"I already said, Papa, that I did not come to _discuss_ anything," Lizzy said with bite. "We have chosen to tell you as a courtesy, though we expect that the knowledge will go no further than this room."

Mr. Bennet's eyes swiveled onto his daughter and remorse flooded them. "I am still your father, Lizzy," he said quietly.

"That is true enough," Lizzy said, feeling her muscles becoming more and more rigid with each passing second, "but seeing as, for the last three months, I have been presuming myself disowned, I thought it seemed perfectly reasonable to make the decision without consulting you and I have no intention of the courtship being broken off now. I told you before, sir, that I no longer – "

"Please do not repeat it, Lizzy," Mr. Bennet interrupted quickly. He sighed heavily. "Have you anything to say, Mr. Darcy?"

"I have plenty I should _like_ to say, Mr. Bennet, but chose to refrain for the sake of Elizabeth," Mr. Darcy said through tight lips.

Mr. Bennet had the sense to look properly embarrassed. He turned his attention back to his daughter. "Your sisters know, I assume?"

"Yes," Lizzy answered. "Lydia spread the news at Hogwarts, herself."

"And you would have me keep the knowledge from Mrs. Bennet."

"If Mrs. Bennet cannot be pleased with me for the sake of my own self, I do not want her to be pleased with me for the sake of who I have taken interest in!" Lizzy said vehemently.

Mr. Bennet nodded. "How long has this been going on?" he asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Since the day after I was attacked," Lizzy answered.

Mr. Bennet's eyes darkened with anger and snapped back to Mr. Darcy. "Did you take advantage of – "

"I will _not_ stand for Darcy's honor being questioned," Lizzy hotly cut in.

Mr. Darcy's cool façade broke for just a moment, showing Mr. Bennet the rage he felt, but he quickly gained control of his face again and would have seemed as calm as ever, if not for his fingers curling in and out of fists at his side. "My only goal, Mr. Bennet, is to see Elizabeth safe and happy. I have done, and will continue to do, everything in my power to see that goal met."

Lizzy wound her arm around Mr. Darcy's and squeezed gently to calm him. "I am not asking for your approval, sir," she said to her father. "If it will ease your mind to have such information, however, I shall tell you that our professors, friends, and my sisters are well pleased with the courtship."

"As is my own family," said Mr. Darcy. "Well, most of them."

"Yes, we do still need to discuss Lady Catherine," Lizzy answered, temporarily ignoring her father's presence. "I know you said she has fairly well isolated herself, but she will find out sooner or later and I think the whole thing will go over much better if she hears about it from you."

"Is this really the time and place you would like to discuss this, Elizabeth?" Mr. Darcy asked.

Lizzy turned back to Mr. Bennet. "Have you any other concerns? I may or may not address them, but you might as well voice them."

Mr. Bennet looked Mr. Darcy over. "This is truly who you wish to be with, Lizzy?" he asked after staring at Mr. Darcy's haughty expression for several seconds.

Lizzy surprised her father by laughing quietly. "Shall you come out of hiding, Mr. Darcy?" she asked lightly.

"I doubt that would endear him to me, at present," Mr. Darcy answered honestly.

"Then look at me," Lizzy coached. Mr. Darcy quickly obliged. "Tell me again of how you managed to get Menace into his basket for me to bring him to Longbourn."

"Well, he was being his usual stubborn self – "

Lizzy shook her head to interrupt the beginning of Mr. Darcy's tale told with an emotionless voice and blank face. "William, tell _me_," she said.

Darcy's eyes flashed at hearing his given name and he frowned frustratedly.

Lizzy knew full well what she had done and smiled impishly. Nonetheless, her goal was accomplished. Darcy told the harrowing tale of how he had laid an elaborate trap for Menace, managing to bruise his shin spectacularly in the process, with hardly a trace of the reserve he had leaned on so heavily before.

"You see, Papa, he is not so formidable as his façade would lead you to believe," Lizzy said after smiling contentedly at Darcy for a moment. "Yes, I enjoy being with Darcy, whatever his faults may be, and I know he enjoys being with me."

"Well, Lizzy," said Mr. Bennet after clearing his throat, "thank you for putting me more at ease. I know you felt no obligation to do so, and I am pleased you put forth the effort. It means a great deal to me.

"Mr. Darcy, I assume you would not take my telling you to treat Lizzy well with good grace?" Mr. Bennet asked, turning his attention.

Mr. Darcy's mask had reassembled the moment Lizzy turned her face from him. "I would listen," he said neutrally.

"Might I have a moment alone with my daughter?" Mr. Bennet asked.

Lizzy tightened her grip on Mr. Darcy's arm. "Whatever you have to say, Papa, I will tell to Mr. Darcy anyway."

Mr. Bennet observed the stubborn expression on his daughter's face with which he was well familiar, then sighed. He rose from his chair and moved to stand directly in front of her, ignoring Mr. Darcy all together. "I have done a horrible job of showing it, Lizzy, but I do truly love you and wish you to have only the best in life. So long as I draw breath, I will work to prove it to you and see you lack for nothing you deserve. Please do not rush into anything that will ultimately cause you pain simply for the sake of security or to spite me."

"I make my decisions according to my own wishes, Papa, and certainly do not let fear control me," Lizzy promised.

"There's my girl," Mr. Bennet said affectionately. He kissed Lizzy on the forehead and then went to sit behind his desk. "Now, if you truly want to keep this courtship a secret from Mrs. Bennet, I highly suggest you return to her before she notices the _pair_ of you are missing."

Lizzy allowed herself to smile at her father before leading Mr. Darcy from the room. "I am glad that is over," she breathed in the hallway.

Darcy looked both ways, then grabbed Lizzy's hand and kissed the back of it several times. "You amaze me, Elizabeth."

Lizzy blushed profusely. "Perhaps you will not look favorably on my actions when you have daughters of your own," she said.

"I sincerely hope I act in such a way as to never put any daughters I may be blessed with in such a position," Darcy said fiercely.

"I believe you will not give them cause to speak to you as I have to my father," Lizzy said, turning her head slightly down and to the side.

Darcy grabbed Elizabeth's other hand and began drawing circles on the backs of them with his thumbs as he took a step closer to her. "Say it again," he pleaded. "In the bookroom. You said it. I would like to hear you say it again. My name."

Whether or not Elizabeth would have complied, Darcy never got to find out, for Mary entered the hall just then.

"You called, Lizzy?" said Mary with an arched brow.

Darcy looked rather like a scolded puppy, and Elizabeth laughed. "There is no need to pout, Darcy!" she chided. "I called to her before we ever left my father's room. I should like to know the climate of the parlor before I enter it again, and suspected Mary could use a distraction, at any rate."

"You are quite correct, Lizzy," said Mary. "I would much rather be in this hall with you and Darcy than in Mama's web that is the parlor. Jane and Charles have still been unable to say anything beyond a greeting to each other. Kitty's gone back to her drawing; the hinkypunks are coming along nicely. Lydia is flipping through an old Quidditch magazine of yours that, to Mama, looks like one for fashion."

"That thieving little pixie!" Elizabeth burst. "I know _exactly_ what magazine you speak of, and it was tucked neatly away in my room!"

"Perhaps you should go confront her, then," Mary suggested. "I will occupy Darcy for a few minutes, so Mama does not get any ideas with the two of you entering together."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes in frustration before setting off.

"Where have you been hiding, Mary?" Darcy asked.

"I was in the sitting room with the piano," Mary answered readily. "I had intended to play, but the instrument has suffered for not being used, so I had to do some upkeep, instead. Lucky for Lizzy, really, or I might not have heard her summons."

Darcy frowned at the reminder of being interrupted.

"You know, Darcy, that I think you and Lizzy are well matched," said Mary, "and it is perhaps for that reason that I suggest bowing to the Muggle norm of always having a chaperone."

"What?" Darcy heard himself say.

Mary gave a half smile. "Remember, Darcy, that there is _very_ _little_ you can hide from me."

Darcy quickly adjusted his gaze to admire the carpet as he felt a blush creep up his neck.

"I know you ultimately respect Lizzy and do not think you would _purposely_ commit some notable impropriety, but thoughts come before actions," said Mary. "Until I see that you are making progress toward schooling your thoughts, at least when it comes to interactions you wish to have with Lizzy, with the same discipline you exercise on your schooling your facial expression, I will make it my personal mission to see to it that the pair of you are always in company."

"Is that _really _necess – "

Mary cut Darcy off with a stern look. She waited for him to close his mouth before speaking again. "I have experienced the thoughts of a great many people that have been through various experiences with the opposite sex, Darcy. If you are not careful, you will begin to see Lizzy as an object; I have seen it many times before. I will not have my sister come to harm, intentionally inflicted or not, and I would rather not see you burdened with guilt, both of which results would occur if you were to give in to baser desires in a moment of weakness.

"Lizzy understands more than a Muggle of her age would, but not as much as you," Mary continued pragmatically. "She likes you a great deal, appreciates your affections, and _feels safe with you_. Let that be enough. You will both be happier for it."

Darcy was sure another ten minutes would pass before he composed himself enough to be able to be in company. He did not know that he had ever blushed so deeply in his life. To be called out for his thoughts, and by his beloved's sister, was a horrifyingly humbling experience, one he could admit he was well deserving of.

"Thank you, Mary, for setting me straight," Darcy said after collecting himself somewhat. He very much wished he was at Hogwarts so he would not have an absurd cravat pressing against his flushed throat. "You are, as per usual, correct. I have not been careful with my thoughts."

Mary smiled gently. "I believe you will conquer this. I understand from previous 'experiences' that the thoughts will still occur, but it is fully within your power what you do with those thoughts, whether you entertain them or master them."

Darcy nodded uncomfortably. His throat felt rather tight, and so he did not _speak_ his intention to take a short walk around the front of the house, but he was entirely confident Mary knew his intention, and so simply left.

Mary kept her word. Every day that Darcy met Elizabeth for a walk, Mary came along. Lizzy thought she was offering Mary a reprieve from Mrs. Bennet, and perhaps that was so, but Darcy and Mary knew the truth of the matter.

* * *

"Lizzy, is it alright if I go call on Maria Lucas?" Lydia asked, striding into the parlor with her bonnet already in hand. "It has been an age since I saw her last!"

"Of course you should go see your friend, Lydia!" Mrs. Bennet cried. "You have been around the house too long, at any rate. Go out and socialize."

Lizzy turned her head from her book to look at her sister. She had made herself rather comfortable sitting in an armchair completely wrongly, with her legs swung over one of the arms and her back against the other. "Must you go now?" she asked as she set her finger on the paragraph she had been examining.

"I have already given you _my_ permission, Lydia," said Mrs. Bennet rather forcefully. "What need have you to consult your sister? Go!"

Lizzy was distressed to see a flash of the old Lydia cross her sister's visage at her mother's pronouncement.

Lydia looked between her mother and sister, weighing her options. Slowly, finally, she turned her full attention back to Lizzy, and so missed the look of affronted shock on her mother's face. "Jane expects Bingley soon, Kitty cannot act as my chaperone, and Mary's head aches so badly she is refusing to get out of bed. Can you not pick up your book again later?"

Lizzy sighed heavily and swung her legs around so her feet could rest on the floor. "Go tell Mary I insist she get up, and help her get ready," she said resignedly. Poor Mary was literally being made sick by the strength of Mrs. Bennet's wild thoughts. Lizzy knew getting out of the house for a while would be the best fix for her sister. Besides, she was so well pleased with the way Lydia was handling herself that she could not help but agree to the excursion. "We shall both go with you."

Lydia looked far less than pleased with the task she had been given, but left to accomplish it, all the same.

Lizzy rubbed her face before carefully marking her place and setting her book aside. She had much rather stay in her chair and keep to herself, but she would see to the care of her sisters.

"Well, Miss Lizzy, seeing as you have taken it upon yourself to be the lady of the house, perhaps you ought to remain until you can greet the guest Longbourn is expecting," Mrs. Bennet said petulantly.

Lizzy's immediate response was anger, but she made herself take a deep breath before responding. The time allowed her to consider how frustrating it must be to Mrs. Bennet that she was no longer being consulted by any of her daughters. That such was her own fault was not a fact Mrs. Bennet could easily grasp and so Lizzy found herself feeling some amount of pity for the woman.

"Lydia has become accustomed to me acting as her guardian at school, Mama," Lizzy calmly explained.

"I am her mother!" Mrs. Bennet objected.

"I doubt Lydia has forgotten who you are," Lizzy said with an edge to her voice. "If Lydia's actions are so distressing to you, you are more than welcome to discuss them with her when we return from Lucas Lodge. As you have said, she ought to socialize with her neighbors while she is home, and as she rightly concluded, she ought not do so alone."

Lizzy shoved herself out of her seat and quickly left the room before Mrs. Bennet could raise further objections.

"Go with Lizzy!" came Mary's voice as Lizzy made her way upstairs. "Leave me be!"

Rolling her eyes, Lizzy opened Mary's door to see her and Lydia fighting over the coverlet.

"Lizzy said you are to get up and come with us, though I should be perfectly content to let you stay here and rot in bed!" Lydia snapped with a mighty tug that finally won her the bed clothing.

"Lizzy, take Lydia and be gone!" Mary whined upon sighting her elder sister.

Lizzy approached the edge of Mary's bed, then put her hands on her hips. "Come along now, Mary. You know you will feel better for getting away from Mrs. Bennet for an hour or two. Perhaps we can extend the trip and go into Meryton to see if there is any new sheet music we might get for you to work out."

Mary was stubborn to the point that Lizzy began to worry she may actually be sick, but as soon as Lizzy and Lydia managed to get Mary out of the house, the legilimen's expression began to clear.

"Mama is very angry with you," Mary said lowly to Lizzy while Lydia skipped ahead of them.

"Is she?" Lizzy asked tritely. "I had not noticed."

Mary gave her sister an unamused sideways look.

Lizzy sighed. "I am not trying to be adversarial, Mary."

"_I_ recognize that easily enough," said Mary. "You are simply acting as you have at Hogwarts. Though you are much better suited to the role of guardian than Mama, I think it will make everyone's life easier if you encourage Kitty and Lydia to defer to her on unimportant matters."

Lizzy worried at her lip for a moment as she considered. "I am afraid of what might happen if I do," she confessed. "I saw Lydia consider giving in to her old, petulant impulsivity."

"Yes, I felt that moment very acutely," said Mary dully. "Luckily for us, Lydia quickly realized it would be in her best interest to maintain your favor, as she prefers the freedoms offered her at Hogwarts over the frivolities promised by Mrs. Bennet."

"I suppose I will be content with that," Lizzy said heavily. "Very well, Mary. I will do as you suggest."

Lizzy, Mary, and Lydia saw Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy on their horses heading toward Longbourn as they were on their way to Lucas Lodge. Lizzy regretted her decision to supervise Lydia all the more.

* * *

Lizzy found herself in her father's bookroom on the evening of Easter Sunday. She was not quite certain how it happened, as she had been skillfully avoiding as much interaction with her parents as she could manage. Nonetheless, she sat across the chessboard from him and resigned herself to being in his exclusive company for the duration of the game.

She supposed she was not too terribly_ irritated_ with the situation, only guarded. Though Lizzy had largely avoided her father, she had observed him closely throughout the week and been pleased by what she saw. Mr. Bennet rode the entire estate once and left on two other occasions to see to an issue personally. He denied Mrs. Bennet's request that Kitty and Lydia be given an increase in their allowance, a conversation Lizzy was certainly not supposed to have overheard. He had a book of ledgers in front of him as often as he had one of his favored Greek classics, and Lizzy even saw him with a newspaper once. Three times, men of business came to the house to discuss dealings. Mr. Bennet was considering investing in sheep.

"I know you heard me deny Mrs. Bennet's demands to increase the allowances of your sisters," Mr. Bennet said as he made the first move of the game.

"I did," Lizzy confirmed without elaborating.

"And your opinion?" Mr. Bennet asked.

Lizzy devoted an inordinate amount of attention to moving a pawn to hide the extent of her surprise. Mr. Bennet asking after her opinion was not so unusual, but it was usually done in the pursuit of a joke.

"I do not think my sisters need an increase in pin money," Lizzy said finally. "They have little enough cause to spend it at Hogwarts."

"I thought as much, though I do have money I intend for them," said Mr. Bennet with a nod. He reached behind him and grabbed a ledger book. "For reasons I am sure you will be able to easily deduce, I have not informed Mrs. Bennet of the improvements I have been making around Longbourn, nor the extra revenue such improvements have generated."

Lizzy took the book and flipped through it. Soon she was nodding in approval. "I am glad to see things are going well," she said noncommittally. She was unsure where this conversation was leading.

"If this business with the sheep works out as I think it will, you and your sisters will have double the money I was able to give you at the beginning of this year for your next term," Mr. Bennet said, moving another piece.

Lizzy considered what to do with this information even as she considered her next move on the board. Jane had insisted she did not want to take any of the funds from their Gringotts account with her when she married and that Mary take over helping Lizzy manage the account, which Mary had flatly refused as she did not want the responsibility. Effectively, Lizzy now controlled the finances of herself and her sisters in the magical world. If Mr. Bennet were to make good on his promise, Lizzy thought she might feel comfortable investing the extra revenue. With the interest earned, her sisters might be able to make Grand Tours when they completed their schooling.

"Would you consider telling me what weighs so heavily on your mind?" Mr. Bennet asked after observing Lizzy's deep thought.

"I am simply considering the possibilities an increase in school money would create for my sisters," Lizzy answered, and then moved her piece.

"And yourself," Mr. Bennet added.

"I do not need the money," said Lizzy.

"Is there nothing you would _want _with it, Lizzy?" Mr. Bennet asked. He seemed part disappointment and part anxiety.

Lizzy thought of how she would like to take a Grand Tour, herself, and how she hoped to repay Zebulon's parents for their gift of her broom by investing in their shop and of the owl she hoped to have, but quashed the desires. She could do some amount of travel, eventually, as well as invest in the Thomas's apothecary with money earned from working. The owl, she already knew, would be easily attainable with a steady flow of cash. Mary, Kitty, and Lydia did not have quite her methodology and would benefit far more from the gift of funds.

"I am content with what I have," Lizzy decided on saying.

"Are you, Lizzy?" Mr. Bennet asked with evident concern. "Content?"

Lizzy abandoned the board as her father did and observed his face as she thought, her lips pulling into a slight frown. She knew he was not referring to just her material needs. Soon, she decided she would prefer not to answer at all. Mr. Bennet seemed in a rare mood to talk, and so she would let him.

"I have been trying, Lizzy, really and truly, I have," Mr. Bennet said when he realized Lizzy's resolution to remain silent. "I know you have noticed the efforts I have been making in running the estate, managing your mother, and coming to know all of my daughters better. I will continue with all those paths regardless of your answer, but I find I simply must know if I have any hope for regaining your trust."

Lizzy crossed her arms as she considered. "I do _want_ to trust you," she said eventually, "but I am not sure such is possible. I confess there is part of me that is beside myself with fury to see you extending yourself in such a fashion now that we are all grown. Our lives could have been much easier and more comfortable had you simply done so from the beginning."

"You are not so very grown, Lizzy, and surely you cannot consider Kitty and Lydia to be so," said Mr. Bennet gently.

Lizzy felt the fury she had told her father of begin to sizzle. "Kitty and Lydia are not, I will readily admit. And perhaps I should not be, but I am." Mr. Bennet made to interrupt, but Lizzy forestalled him with an open palm. "Jane and I have always had to watch out for our sisters and have suffered many an embarrassment due to Mrs. Bennet's manners or your own. The moment we first discovered you would give us charge of some funds for our schooling, we began plotting what to do with it.

"As an eleven and nine-year-old, we began making the decisions of adults," Lizzy continued. "Jane and I exercised a great deal of economy, and have managed to set aside a good amount of money that has provided well for us and for our sisters. If you were to cut us off entirely, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia would still be able to get through the rest of their time at Hogwarts.

"I watched as you and Mrs. Bennet indulged my youngest sisters, all the while thinking how I would handle them differently. Thanks to Hogwarts, I _have_ been able to handle them, and you have noticed the improvements. Such tasks were not mine to take on, and well beyond my years.

"As I told you the day we returned to Longbourn, I have felt well and truly abandoned since December," Lizzy plowed on, despite the increasing sorrow on her father's face. "Since then, my thoughts have been much occupied by how _I_ can provide for my sisters. How _I _can keep them safe. How _I _can make them feel _loved_. I may only have turned sixteen years of age a few months ago, Mr. Bennet, but my mind is that of a full-grown woman in charge of her family."

"Lizzy, please, let me do my duty and take over those concerns for you," Mr. Bennet earnestly offered.

"No," Lizzy answered with hardly any hesitation. "I have the assistance of Jane, Mary, Charles, and Darcy. I do not need you, nor do I trust you after all I have endured. I will not see my younger sisters suffer as I have."

"Misters Bingley and Darcy have no place to see to the future of your sisters," Mr. Bennet argued.

"They have exercised a much more active role in the lives of Kitty and Lydia than you have before this week," Lizzy spat. "Furthermore, Charles is to marry Jane, and will soon have the 'right' to help them as he sees fit, even from a Muggle's perspective!"

"Darcy, then!" Mr. Bennet stubbornly insisted.

"William has been a vigilant guard for my sisters and treated them with every bit the same amount of care he would his own!" Lizzy replied.

"And with an ulterior motive," Mr. Bennet growled.

"I will say this only once, Mr. Bennet, so listen closely," said Lizzy tightly. "William has had more opportunity than you would know to compromise me, ruin me, control me, bend me to his will. _He has not_. Instead, he has aided me through great emotional turmoil, offered me choice, made me feel safe, and put my happiness above his own. At _every _turn, he has succeeded where you have failed, and I will not tolerate you questioning his honor."

The blood drained from Mr. Bennet's face and he appeared to instantly gain ten years.

"You may be trying sir, and I respect your efforts," Lizzy said in a more level voice after taking several heaving breaths to calm herself. "All the same, it does not make up for your years of neglect. You want my trust, but my wounds run deep and will never heal completely. I have explained my reasons to you fully, and if you cannot accept them, then it is likely best I quit Longbourn permanently. I have had enough of my concerns not being taken seriously."

"Please stay," Mr. Bennet eventually choked out.

"I will, but not for you, and not for Mrs. Bennet," Lizzy said flatly. "It is your turn, sir," she added, gesturing to the board.

Mr. Bennet and Lizzy went through the motions required of the game, but neither said another word. After Mr. Bennet conceded defeat by toppling his king, Lizzy rose and went directly to Jane's room. Her sister was already within and lying abed.

"Lizzy?" Jane said sleepily. "I thought I heard raised voices at some point. Did you and Papa have a fight?"

"No, Jane, you must have been imagining things," Lizzy said easily. "Go to sleep."

Jane rolled onto her side and her light snores told Lizzy she had, indeed, gone back to sleep.

Lizzy was surprised to feel herself completely at peace as she readied herself for bed.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Oh boy is my lack of usual routine messing with me! Sorry, lovelies. I'll set some alarms or something to help me keep track of my life a little better.

Lots happened in this chapter! I am really, truly wanting to know what you (yeah, you right there!) think about it all. Consider leaving a review or sending a PM. Have a good day!


	28. Chapter 28

The week Lizzy spent at Longbourn was productive, if not pleasant. She and Mrs. Bennet had come to an uneasy truce; Mrs. Bennet largely left Lizzy to her own devices and did not openly scorn her daughter while Lizzy made it a practice to direct Kitty and Lydia to their mother for all things inconsequential. Such eased Mrs. Bennet's unpleasantness a great deal and if Kitty and Lydia later ignored her advice for that of Jane or Lizzy sought more privately, she remained none the wiser.

Mr. Bennet became even more engrossed in his estate responsibilities and was often gone from the house for hours at a time. He did make it a point to be home for dinner every evening, however, and was sure to ask after each of his daughters through the course of the meal and follow up on things they had told him previously. He and Lizzy were perfectly civil to each other, though there was little warmth between them.

Longbourn was most certainly no longer home for Lizzy Bennet.

"Ah, there is my favorite group of ladies!" Bingley joyously exclaimed as the Bennet sisters approached the clearing where Piper awaited them.

Lizzy greeted Bingley pleasantly, if with confusion, before turning to face Darcy with her arms crossed over her chest, her weight settled largely on one leg, and an arched eyebrow. He was leaned against one of his thestrals, smiling gently at her.

"You were to go directly to Hogwarts, I thought," Lizzy said as Darcy approached her.

"That was the plan, originally, but your sisters conspired against you," said Darcy as his grin became devilish.

"And you have no blame, I am sure," said Lizzy drily.

Darcy chose waving to a highly excited Lydia, who was wearing the new robes Lizzy had gifted her, over responding.

"What is it you have planned?" Lizzy asked resignedly.

"We are not expected to Hogwarts until curfew tomorrow," said Darcy. "I mean to take you to Diagon Alley."

"I have no need to go to Diagon Alley," Lizzy objected.

"I did not say you had a need to do so, merely that I mean to take you," said Darcy patiently. "I was not offered the chance to stow you away at Pemberley. Surely you can give me this, instead?"

Lizzy tried to fight her smile, but was entirely unsuccessful. "I am flattered by your offer, sir, but I mean to go with my sisters in Piper's carriage to Hogwarts."

Darcy sighed dramatically. "Have it your way, then," he said.

As Darcy opened the door to his carriage and dutifully helped Caroline out of it, though she looked decidedly displeased with being made to leave it, Lizzy sensed a charge in the atmosphere and began to feel uneasy. She slowly turned on her heel to see all her sisters, plus Bingley, looking at her with poorly concealed anticipation.

"What have you done?" Lizzy asked slowly.

"We shall see you tomorrow, Lizzy," said Jane pleasantly with a wave.

"You will be in the carriage with me for hours, J – oh!" Lizzy involuntarily squealed as her feet were relieved of her weight. "Fitzwilliam Darcy! Put me down this instant!"

Darcy did not comply. Instead, he carried a protesting Lizzy to his carriage and awkwardly shoved her inside, taking care to quickly settle his weight on part of her skirts to prevent her making a hasty escape.

"Darcy!" Lizzy laughingly objected, beginning to try to tug her skirts free. "My luggage!" she tried.

"I have a change of clothes for us both, Lizzy," said Mary nonchalantly, boarding the carriage and shutting the door.

"Are you the mastermind of this dastardly plot, Mary?" Lizzy asked as the carriage took to the sky.

"Well, I certainly had a part, but it was rather a collective effort," Mary answered coolly.

Lizzy looked expectantly at Darcy, making him laugh.

"All I did was express during one of Jane's calls to Netherfield that I missed spending time with you," said Darcy. "She and Bingley orchestrated the rest."

"Even to the point of picking me up and throwing me into your carriage like a sack of flour?" Lizzy asked.

"I think a sack of flour might have weighed more," Darcy quipped.

Lizzy scoffed good naturedly and turned back to Mary. "Out with it, Mary. I must know how this came to be."

Mary gave a gentle smile of amusement. "Bingley was very sympathetic to Darcy's plight," she offered. "He suggested a diversion on the way back to Hogwarts. Kitty and Lydia had the idea of Diagon Alley. Jane agreed and thought I might enjoy some time around unfamiliar minds, about which she was quite correct, so here I am.

"As for how you came to find yourself in your current predicament," Mary continued, looking pointedly at Darcy squishing Lizzy into the side of the carriage to limit her mobility, "we anticipated your resistance, but left the exact method of securing you to Darcy."

At Mary's look, Darcy scooted away from Lizzy, offering her the chance to rearrange herself comfortably, now that the danger of escape had passed. That Jane had suggested Mary would enjoy some time in isolation was not a falsehood, but it was Mary, herself, that insisted she go with Darcy and Lizzy. She had admitted to Darcy that she was pleased with the progress he had made toward mastering his thoughts, but still believed a chaperone was a mighty fine idea. Darcy had found himself agreeing against his will.

"How very boorish of you, sir," Lizzy cried in mock offense.

"Would any other method of getting you to the carriage have been successful?" Darcy asked archly.

Lizzy laughingly admitted that, no, it was unlikely. "And how are we to pass the time?" she asked. "I don't think you would find much interest in the topics of conversation my sisters and I would engage in, so I am quite at a loss."

"I plan to pass most of the time sleeping," Mary said enthusiastically. "Would you mind terribly if we drew the curtains on the window? Truly, I slept very ill most of the time at Longbourn."

Darcy readily complied to Mary's request. Expressing her gratitude, Mary laid herself out on the bench and balled up her outer layer to use as a pillow.

Lizzy was quick to shrug out of her own pelisse and spread it over Mary for use as a blanket.

Darcy eagerly grabbed Lizzy's hand and scooted a little closer to her. "I am so very glad the week is over," he said as he kissed her hand.

"So am I," Lizzy said with a great deal of relief.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Darcy asked.

Lizzy shook her head. "I think I told you all the important things when we met for walks."

"You're sure?" Darcy pressed.

Lizzy gave an easy smile and squeezed Darcy's hand. "I am well, Darcy."

"Then I will permit myself to begin complaining freely of just how very much I disliked being removed from you," Darcy said determinedly. "Being in the same room as you, and not being able to speak with you or touch you, was absolutely miserable. Please, Elizabeth, tell me you won't make me go through that again."

Lizzy met Darcy's pleading eyes with a blush. "Can we revisit such a topic when it comes closer to the end of the school term?"

"I would like an answer now," Darcy insisted.

"I did not enjoy the separation either," said Lizzy.

"Then we can acknowledge our relationship when next we go to Hertfordshire?" Darcy asked eagerly.

"Are you so sure you are willing to deal with Mrs. Bennet's effusions?"

Darcy's face darkened. "I will deal with whatever Mrs. Bennet might have to offer if it meant I had a place to censure her for her comments towards you and the right to comfort you in her presence."

Lizzy sighed contentedly and rested her head on Darcy's shoulder. "I will consider it," she said. "You may profess to be ready, but I don't know that I am."

"How did you leave things with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet?" Darcy asked cautiously.

"Better than last time," Lizzy said with a derisive chuckle. "We parted civilly. That is enough for now."

Darcy kissed thee top of Lizzy's head. They talked of inconsequential things until the carriage began to descend.

Lizzy gently woke Mary so she could make herself presentable again before getting out of the carriage.

Upon landing at their destination, Darcy stepped out and chatted with his coachman for a few minutes while the Bennet sisters changed, then offered an arm to each of them and proudly led them through the streets.

Lizzy's spirits were greatly lifted from the easy day of company. She saw numerous friends, both current and former students of Hogwarts, and met several of Darcy's. They went wherever they felt the impulse to go. When Lizzy suggested they go to the Thomas's to see if they might be welcome for dinner, Darcy and Mary readily agreed.

Zebulon had greeted Lizzy enthusiastically, and his parents were only too willing to host the company.

Lizzy was gratified to see Darcy act very much like himself, not an aloof shadow, during the meal and settled herself as close as possible to him when they again boarded his carriage after a pleasant evening spent with the Thomas family.

"Thank you again for the cloak, Darcy," Mary said as she began resettling into her improvised bed. Darcy had insisted on getting Lizzy and Mary both something, and Mary had chosen a new cloak, as she was in need of one anyway.

"You are most welcome, Mary," said Darcy. "I hope you will sleep well."

"My rest will certainly be better than at Longbourn," Mary mused. While Elizabeth was occupied with unlacing her boots, Mary gave Darcy a significant look. He nodded solemnly in response. Satisfied, Mary rolled onto her side, facing away from the couple.

"And are you pleased with your trinket, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked.

"You really did not have to get me anything, Darcy," Elizabeth said with a slight blush.

"I wanted to," Darcy said. "Have I truly made you uncomfortable?"

"No," Elizabeth answered. "I like my new Quidditch gloves very much. Thank you."

Darcy was greatly pleased by the answer and set his arm around Elizabeth's shoulders. "What should you like for your birthday?" he asked.

"My birthday passed months ago," Elizabeth yawned. With Longbourn behind her and having spent a day wandering Diagon Alley, she was quite low on energy.

"Yes, but I was not yet in a position to treat you to anything, then," Darcy pointed out. "I should like to get you a belated present."

"I don't need anything," Elizabeth half-mumbled. Already she was so relaxed and tired her speech was becoming lazy.

"That is not what I asked," Darcy insisted.

"A dragon of my own, then, so it can aide me when I try to slip past the one you intend on setting to guard the cellar you have set aside for me," Elizabeth said with a yawn.

Darcy chuckled. "No, I don't think I can let escape be that easy for you. Make another request."

Elizabeth's answer was a slight snore.

Darcy carefully went about resettling Elizabeth so she was laid out on the bench with her head in his lap. He gazed fondly at her sleeping face and, again, conceded Mary's wisdom. He enjoyed the moment far more for being exactly what it was than by wishing it was something else. He set his hand gently on Elizabeth's arm and drifted off to sleep, himself.

* * *

"What do you mean, that's not right?" Lydia burst.

Lizzy stifled a laugh as she felt Darcy tense beside her. The couple had spent more time studying in the library than their tower since returning from Easter holidays. As a result, Darcy, who excelled at Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts, had ended up becoming Lydia's tutor in the subjects. Lizzy knew Darcy was willing to help Lydia, but was often frustrated by the girl's impatience. She rarely interfered, preferring to see how Darcy worked the situation out, himself.

"I mean just that, Lydia," Darcy said in a very controlled voice. "The date you've written would _not_ be an appropriate time to start brewing that potion."

"It's five weeks out from when Slughorn's problem says it would be needed, and five weeks is how long it takes to brew!" Lydia argued, jabbing her finger at her book.

"Read the instructions again," Darcy coached.

"Can't you just _tell_ me?" Lydia whined.

"No," Darcy answered. "You'll learn it better if you come to the solution on your own. I have already given you a few hints."

Lydia huffed and pushed the book away from herself. "I give up," she grumbled.

Darcy looked toward the ceiling and was, to Lizzy, very obviously praying for patience.

Before Darcy was able to try a new tactic with Lydia, Professor Flitwick popped up into the unoccupied chair at the table. "Misses Bennet, Mr. Darcy," said the professor pleasantly.

"You want to talk to Lizzy and Darcy, don't you, Professor?" Lydia asked eagerly.

"Amusing as you always are, Miss Lydia, it_ is_ your sister and Mr. Darcy I have come to see," Flitwick acknowledged.

"Merlin be praised!" Lydia exclaimed. She slammed her Potions book shut, snatched up her bag, and scurried away.

"Lydia, no!" Darcy objected. "That assignment is due tomorrow!"

Lydia took no notice of Darcy's calling to her. In all likelihood, she was so focused on making it to the door she did not hear him at all.

Darcy glared at Lizzy, who was not bothering to conceal her smile. "Your help would have been welcome," he said, clearly annoyed.

Lizzy chose addressing her professor over responding to her irritated companion. "What is it you wish to discuss, Professor?"

"I have new information about the second round of qualifying tournaments," said Flitwick. "Yours, Miss Bennet, will be next week. Darcy, yours is the week after."

"We are not competing in the same tournament?" Lizzy asked.

"It will help your odds of making it to the last qualifying round," Flitwick answered. "I had little doubt the pair of you would make it through the first level. This second round is made of a much more narrow and refined pool of candidates, and I would rather not risk you two being made to go up against each other yet. So long as you are _not_ pitted against each other, I believe you both have a good chance of making it into the international competition."

When Flitwick told Lizzy her tournament was to be held in Kent, she leapt at the opportunity she saw.

"I could visit Charlotte!" Lizzy exclaimed. "The tournament is on a Friday, is it not? I can compete, spend Saturday with Charlotte, travel on Sunday, and be back in time for my first class on Monday!"

"I do not think that would be a good idea," said Darcy.

"I did not ask you," Lizzy pointed out rather sharply. She turned back to Flitwick with a smile. "Please say you will allow it, Professor! You will already have to arrange for me to get off grounds. What is one more day before I travel back?"

"_I _have no objection to the scheme, but I will have to discuss it with Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, as well as the Auror department," Flitwick assured.

Lizzy struggled not to roll her eyes. She was still quite displeased with the fact the Auror department was keeping close tabs on her.

"Getting you to your tournament should be no major issue, Mr. Darcy, as it is in Derbyshire," said Flitwick. "We can simply use the agreement already in existence that allows you to Pemberley when necessary."

Darcy nodded, but made no verbal reply. He wore his mask.

Lizzy frowned at Darcy's manners, but carried on with Flitwick pleasantly enough, working out the rest of the details required, until the educator left to finish arrangements.

"What do you have against me seeing Charlotte?" Lizzy hissed once Flitwick was gone.

"I have no objection to you seeing your friend," Darcy answered, allowing his façade to slip so Lizzy could see his great concern. "I worry about you traveling at all, but I am excessively worried about you being subjected to Lady Catherine. And I'm not fond of the idea of you being around Mr. Collins again, either!"

Lizzy laughed at Darcy's last comment. "Mr. Collins is such a simpleton, there's a good chance he's forgotten all about our last encounter!"

"You are a very memorable person, Elizabeth," Darcy pointed out. "I can assure you he has forgotten not a single detail of your refusal."

Lizzy blushed slightly, well aware that Darcy was speaking from his own experience. "Well, Collins is a married man now, at any rate, and so poses no threat to you, sir."

Darcy closed his eyes tightly and grit his teeth. Lizzy simply watched him and waited. When he had calmed down, he would speak again.

"If you are to stay with the Collinses, I would be shocked if Lady Catherine did not demand to meet their guest," Darcy said, apparently choosing to swallow further objections and abandon his adversity to Mr. Collins.

"So I will meet Lady Catherine," said Lizzy with a shrug. "It had to happen eventually."

"I would prefer to go about it in a more methodical manner. If she has heard about our courtship, Elizabeth, I fear how she may behave toward you," Darcy confessed.

Lizzy's eyes widened. "You think she will become violent?"

"Not physically so," said Darcy, "but she has a very fierce tongue and a calculating mind."

"Have I not the same?" Lizzy asked with some amusement.

"You exercise such talents to build others up," Darcy said. The expression on his face caused Lizzy's smile to faulter. "Lady Catherine uses them for destruction. Elizabeth, I am very worried she will try to ruin you."

Lizzy softened and set her hand on top of Darcy's. "I appreciate your concern, Darcy. It pleases me that you are so thoughtful. But I have not seen Charlotte for months now, and if I do not take advantage of this opportunity, I cannot think when the next one might present itself. If things were settled with my parents, it would be one thing, but we are both aware that is a very unstable connection at present."

"I could take you," said Darcy.

Lizzy chuckled. "I thought you wanted to avoid your aunt's ire. Would us arriving together into Kent not send her into a rage?"

Darcy mumbled unintelligibly.

"I mean to go if I can, Darcy," Lizzy said gently.

Darcy flipped his hand over, so his palm faced Elizabeth's, then gripped her hand firmly. "Please let me advise you on how to deal with her, then."

"Certainly," Elizabeth acquiesced.

"And let me send Fitzwilliam."

Elizabeth frowned at this. "Considering how you reacted the last time you saw your cousin, I am not sure that would be agreeable to _you."_

"Fitzwilliam may seek to annoy me often, and he does a fine job of it, but he is an honorable man and quite capable of handling Lady Catherine, as well as any other threat that may find out about this opportunity to get at you outside of Hogwarts," said Darcy.

Elizabeth tried to extract her hand, but Darcy would not let her. "If Lady Catherine does know about us, and if she has objections, I should rather deal with them, directly. Fitzwilliam is not involved in this."

Darcy had to consciously work not to crush the hand he held. "Elizabeth, you know your mother better than I do, do you not?"

"What does – "

"Please answer."

"Of course I know Mrs. Bennet better than you do," Elizabeth said confusedly.

"When we planned for Easter, I said I would prefer to acknowledge our relationship. You asked that we not do so because of how Mrs. Bennet would behave. I did not like it, still do not, but did as you said because you know your family and the best way to handle them. Lady Catherine is _my_ family, Elizabeth, and I know the best way to handle her."

"Sometimes I wish you were not half so reasonable as you are," Elizabeth said sullenly.

"Then I can write Fitzwilliam?" Darcy asked hopefully.

"Yes, write him," Elizabeth grudgingly agreed. "I imagine he would find some business in Kent next week one way or another."

Darcy grinned. "Well, you know Fitzwilliam. He's not the most predictable of persons and likes to show up in the oddest places."

"Just know that, as this is _your _plan, I will not tolerate any foul mood from you because Fitzwilliam and I will be in company while you are still here at Hogwarts," Elizabeth pointed out with a satisfied smirk.

Darcy's face clouded again, but he bit back his retort. No, he did not want Fitzwilliam to be around Elizabeth without him there, but he was willing to suffer through it to keep Malfoy and Wickham at bay, as well as to guard Elizabeth from Lady Catherine, since he could not risk doing so in this particular instance.

* * *

The evening that Elizabeth was to return to Hogwarts from her tournament, Darcy paced the entrance hall, impatient for her arrival. He did not like being left in the dark. Flitwick had stubbornly refused to tell Darcy how Elizabeth had done in her duels, and Darcy had no idea as to what may have resulted from Elizabeth meeting Lady Catherine.

"Are you expecting someone, sir?"

Darcy turned so quickly toward Elizabeth's voice his neck popped. "Elizabeth! Were you not to take one of the Hogwarts carriages? I've been watching for it."

"And I am glad to see you, as well," said Elizabeth cheekily as she approached.

Darcy could not settle on a question to ask first, and so simply stared at Elizabeth when she stopped before him.

"Lady Catherine does not know of our attachment," Elizabeth offered after a few moments. "She seems quite taken with me, in fact. When Fitzwilliam mentioned that I studied under Headmaster Dumbledore, she almost immediately offered me use of her fireplace connected to the floo network for my return. I was able to stay with Charlotte for nearly two days complete!"

Darcy released a breath he had not realized he was holding. He was so very relieved Elizabeth had not been made to face Lady Catherine's rage. He asked after Charlotte. Elizabeth's face lit with joy as she recounted her time with her friend, and Darcy found himself very glad she had insisted on going. Seeing Charlotte had done her a great deal of good.

"Are you not going to ask me about the tournament, sir?" Elizabeth asked archly after finishing telling him how Charlotte fared.

"I would be more than happy to hear about it, but I knew the moment I saw you that you had made it through," Darcy said with a proud smile.

"Perhaps I am pleased enough with having seen my friend that my disappointed hopes have been temporarily forgotten."

Darcy gave Elizabeth a flatly disbelieving look that made her laugh.

"Oh, very well," Elizabeth said with a grin. "I will compete in the final qualifying tournament for England that is to be held at the beginning of May."

Darcy's face split into a wide, genuine smile and would have asked for details of her duel if not for the clock announcing the impending curfew. She promised to tell him all at breakfast.

"Oh, do I get to sit with you in the morning?" Darcy asked lightly.

"Well, if you would prefer to keep company with your letters of business, I will seek other amusement," Elizabeth said haughtily, and began stepping away.

Darcy quickly reached out to stop Elizabeth's progress. Both laughed at being teased by the other, settled on a time to meet in the morning, and went to their common rooms happy.

* * *

Lizzy was disappointed to receive an owl from Darcy instead of the man himself. His letter promised he would tell her all about his tournament upon his return, though that would not be for a day or two yet. He had, unsurprisingly, visited Pemberley while in Derbyshire, and believed his attention was needed at the estate.

Five days passed, in total, before Darcy came back to Hogwarts.

"Darcy!" Lizzy exclaimed upon seeing him. "What's happened? You look exhausted!" She set her hands on either side of his face to turn it this way and that to make better observations.

Darcy reached up and gently wrapped his hands around Elizabeth's. He closed his eyes and gave a contented sigh.

"Darcy, what has happened?" Lizzy asked lowly. She could feel stubble on Darcy's face. He was usually so fastidiously clean shaven.

Rather than answer, Darcy began leading Lizzy through the halls until opening the door to their tower, which had seen little use outside tending Menace. As soon as the door closed, he wrapped his arms tightly around Lizzy.

When Lizzy felt Darcy shudder, she immediately began whispering soothing endearments to him, encouraging him to speak when he was ready. Still in his embrace, she gently rubbed his back. A loud meow from Menace led her to look around slightly, and she noticed that, though Darcy had tightly closed his eyes, tears were beginning to leak out. She managed to bring him to the floor, where she settled his head onto her shoulder, which was soon damp.

"William, what can I do to help?" Lizzy asked earnestly once Darcy was spent.

Menace seemed to be in the same frame of mind as Lizzy, for he climbed into Darcy's lap and curled himself up. After clearing his face, Darcy occupied his hands with stroking the comforting weight settled on his person.

"I didn't do enough," Darcy said hoarsely. "I didn't do enough, and people are dead because of it."

Lizzy rearranged herself so she was facing Darcy and took one of his hands in both of her own. She chose not to say anything. When he was ready, Darcy would reveal all.

"While I was competing – I'll be going with you in May, by the way – a fire was started on Pemberley grounds," said Darcy.

Lizzy bit back a gasp, certain Darcy would appreciate minimal interruptions.

"The Millers and Robertsons, we talked about them in Transfiguration once, are dead. Every last one of them. They were sealed inside their homes. Neighbors tried to put out the fires, but water had no effect."

"Fiendfyre?" Lizzy suggested when Darcy stopped to swallow heavily. At his nod, she asked, "Is there any chance they might have upset a local witch or wizard so terribly?"

"They almost certainly did not, but _I_ have greatly upset two wizards who have no morals," said Darcy miserably, "and I did almost nothing to protect my tenants against them."

Lizzy felt white-hot anger lick her insides instantly. "If it was Malfoy or Wickham – "

"Who else?" Darcy weakly scoffed.

"If it was Malfoy or Wickham, their actions are theirs, and theirs alone, William," Lizzy insisted. She grabbed Darcy's face and made him look at her. "You are not to blame for the deaths of the Millers and Robertsons."

"They were _my _responsibility, Elizabeth, and the same goes for those that perished trying to fight the fire!" Darcy suddenly shouted. He shoved himself roughly off the floor, sending Menace running for cover, and began pacing. "I am responsible for _everything_ that happens at Pemberley! I should have protected them better! Hired extra wands, set enchantments on the boundaries, _something!_"

Lizzy felt no fear of Darcy's rage, only an increase in sorrow. She knew he was not truly angry with her, but with himself, and she so desperately wanted to help him. She had to wait for an opportunity, however. Presently, Darcy was too highly wound for her to have any chance.

"He _waited_ for me to be close to home, Elizabeth!" Darcy continued to fume. "If I had just stayed here, at Hogwarts, my tenants – "

When Darcy suddenly stopped and choked on his words, Lizzy seized her opportunity. She leapt to her feet and wrapped her arms around Darcy's middle. After only a moment, he returned her embrace and buried his face in her neck. Lizzy moved one of her hands to the back of Darcy's head, holding him in place.

"I understand this is hard for you, William, and you have every reason to be upset," Lizzy said gently. "Please, do not let Malfoy or Wickham win further victory by continuing to torture yourself with blame." She felt his muscles tense as if to pull away from her, but increased her grip in response to prevent it. "If this effort had failed, he would have found another way. There is only so much you can control."

"But I – "

"No," Lizzy interrupted firmly. "If I am not allowed to take blame for decisions Malfoy made, neither are you."

"Matthew Robertson wasn't even three years of age," Darcy barely whispered.

"If you could have, William, you would have saved them."

"Saving and preventing are two dif – "

Lizzy moved to hold Darcy's face exactly before her own and locked eyes with him. "Your steward is a wizard, is he not?"

Darcy seemed confused by the line of questioning, but answered when Lizzy furrowed her brows just that much more. "Stewards. I have three at Pemberley, currently. I knew I would be much occupied at Hogwarts and wanted to assure everything would be well taken care of."

Lizzy felt appreciation for Darcy swell within her, but kept her focus on the task at hand. "And they are attentive men, are they not? They do their duty well?"

"I would not have hired them, otherwise," Darcy said with a bit of fight.

"Then perhaps blame should lay with _them_," Lizzy said fiercely. "They failed to notice enemies on your property, which you entrusted to their care."

Darcy's face fell to rage and he quickly pulled himself free of Lizzy. She, just as quickly, re-ensnared him.

"You are a good and careful landlord, William, that does everything in his power to make sure those under his care are well provided for and protected. You, quite rightly, will not allow your stewards to take blame, and _I_ will not allow _you_ to do so," Lizzy said firmly. With sudden softness, she continued, "The path you are traveling down leads to madness, William. Mourn the loss of your tenants, by all means, but do not torture yourself for the actions of another."

Fight fled Darcy instantly and he collapsed against Lizzy. "I will try," he promised after several minutes. "I will need your help, Elizabeth."

"I offer it gladly," Elizabeth said, and she kissed Darcy's temple. She felt Darcy's fingers dig into her back as a response.

Abruptly, Darcy pulled away. He cleared his throat a few times before finally addressing Lizzy, who was watching him warily.

"Thank you, Elizabeth, for being here for me. In the last few days, I found myself wishing you were there often," Darcy said with unabashed honesty. "Curfew is almost upon us, but please say you will stay by my side as much as possible in the coming days."

"Of course," Lizzy readily acquiesced.

Darcy fervently kissed Lizzy's hands, quickly bid her goodnight, and exited with haste.

Lizzy pondered Darcy's rapid departure on her way back to Gryffindor Tower, but soon abandoned that train of thought for another. She had never truly considered just how much responsibility Darcy shouldered: a great estate, the rearing of his sister, the last man of his name, to name a few. Anyone would struggle, and he was only nineteen. As she settled in for a fitful sleep full of flaming creatures, Lizzy came to the implacable decision she would learn all she could about estate management and do whatever she could to ease Darcy's great burden.

* * *

**Author's Note**

You didn't REALLY think Malfoy and/or Wickham would just disappear, did you? What fun would that be? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the various fun bits before the crushing completion of this chapter.

Look, fam, I'm still going to update twice a week (hopefully), but I doubt I'll be able to stick to much of a schedule. With all this Corona Virus stuff, I'm not able to do my usual work, and so my routine is all kinds of jacked up. I hope all of you and your families are doing well.

Let me know what you think of this chapter!


	29. Chapter 29

"Darcy."

Darcy did not respond. He was staring at his book without seeing it. Lizzy hated the empty look in his eyes.

"Darcy," she tried again.

Finally, Lizzy reached out and grabbed one of Darcy's hands, and he, at last, adjusted his gaze.

"My apologies," Darcy half mumbled.

Lizzy frowned. She knew what occupied Darcy's mind. "Shall we discuss it?"

"It's nothing new," Darcy sighed. He ran his free hand over his face and sat forward in his seat. "Right," he said with a determined air. "Charms. You said Flitwick gave us some questions requiring short answers? Have you those questions?"

Lizzy ran her thumb over Darcy's knuckles as she considered how to respond. "You're not ready to focus on what you missed of class," she said finally.

"I _need_ to focus on _something,_ Elizabeth," Darcy said lowly. "The questions?"

"Yes, you _do_ need to focus on something, but this isn't it," Lizzy said decidedly. "Put your books away."

"What?"

"Put your books away," Lizzy insisted. She ignored Darcy's unintelligible grumbling as he complied with her demand and she shoved her own texts away. Over the past two days, she had tried multiple things to appropriately distract and redirect Darcy, but he seemed unable to get his mind away from his tenants that had been so cruelly murdered and unwilling to give up the blame. She had thought it might be best to keep him from estate matters for a time, but such was seeming to only increase his feelings of guilt.

Darcy folded his hands on the now clear tabletop in the library. "Well, Elizabeth?" he asked expectantly.

Lizzy scooted her chair around the table so she was sat directly next to Darcy, instead of across him. "Your estate business," she said, "pull it out."

Darcy slowly shook his head. "Elizabeth, there's so much classwork – "

"I know you have your ledgers and your most recent letters from your stewards in your bag," Lizzy continued on stubbornly. "Get them out. Tell me about your responsibilities."

"Elizabeth, I will be well with time," Darcy sighed. "I can deal with these matters later, in my common room. Let us get back to Charms."

"A wise man once told me that, though I may be able to handle whatever is thrown my way on my own, I do not _have_ to do so," Lizzy said with pluck. She was rewarded with a slight twitch of Darcy's lips. "That same infuriatingly stubborn man refused to leave my side even when I started shouting at him and has inspired my current steadfastness."

"Infuriatingly stubborn?" Darcy asked with a weak smile. "I thought you called him wise?"

"He is a character of many dispositions," Lizzy said dismissively. She then gently set her hands over Darcy's. "I am here. You do not have to suffer through this alone."

Darcy heaved another great sigh, then slowly did as Lizzy had asked. He drew from his bag a bundle of letters, two ledger books, and a map, which he spread before him. "This is Pemberley," he said proudly, gazing at the map.

Lizzy felt her jaw slacken as she took in the size and scaling of the map. She had known Darcy to be wealthy, and known Pemberley to be a grand estate, but without even looking at the ledgers she could tell his income had been grossly underestimated. "You took charge of all this at seventeen?" she asked quietly.

Darcy's shoulders seemed to stoop from weight and his face aged in the blink of an eye. "I was not meant to do so at such an early age."

Lizzy shook her head and gathered herself. Marveling at Darcy's holdings was not her intention. Helping him was. She took one of his hands in her own as she began studying the map. "Where did the Millers and Robertsons live?"

Darcy automatically pointed the place out. "They each had a decent piece of land under their care. It's completely vacant, now that…"

Lizzy squeezed the hand she gripped without looking over at Darcy. Instead, she examined what was around the lots he pointed out. "Have you had the woods over here searched? It looks like a good place to hide for a time while waiting for an opportunity."

Darcy nodded. "There was some evidence of a person camping, but not enough to determine _who_."

Lizzy hummed thoughtfully. She wanted to direct Darcy's attention to what he had control over, and the actions of whatever monster had unleashed fiendfyre on his estate did not fit that category. Of course he had done everything he could possibly think of to locate the perpetrator. Likely, that is what had kept him from Hogwarts so long. She needed a different approach.

"What are your plans for the land, now?" she asked after several minutes of studying.

Darcy looked affronted. "Elizabeth, they are hardly cold in their graves!"

Lizzy knew her current path could easily be construed as cold and calloused if taken out of context. "Darcy," she said gently, "they can hardly take offense. You need to consider what is best for your remaining tenants."

"I cannot condone dismissing such a great tragedy by settling the land on other families so quickly!"

"I am not suggesting dismissing the tragedy," Lizzy said patiently. "Bear with me, Darcy, and be strictly practical, only for a few moments."

"I can't," Darcy said sadly.

Lizzy gave him a warm and sympathetic smile. "Between the two families there were eight children, were there not?"

Darcy responded by setting his face into his hands and hunching miserably over the table.

Lizzy reached out and grabbed Darcy's chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. "Everything here is labeled with its purpose," she said, tapping the map without looking at it. "I do not see a school."

Darcy slowly straightened. His brows furrowed. He looked carefully at the map. "How had I never…" he said under his breath.

Lizzy waited patiently and was delighted to see Darcy calculating. He was, for the first time since he had returned, focused with a true purpose. He looked like himself, rather than a shallow facsimile.

"You brilliant, beautiful creature," Darcy breathed after a few minutes, turning his attention to Lizzy. "It is a perfect solution."

Lizzy blushed at the praise. "I'm sure you would have come up with something eventually," she said.

"It would not have been nearly so genius," Darcy said. "I will wait a month longer, to allow for a more fitting mourning period, and then begin construction as soon as possible!" He grinned. "The building will be named for one family, and I shall set up an account to be used for those of my tenants' children requiring funds to study a trade in the name of the other! They would be so pleased to know what their land is to be used for. Oh, Elizabeth!" He grabbed her hands and kissed each of them multiple times.

Lizzy felt tears in her eyes, such was her pleasure and gratitude for Darcy returning to himself. "That sounds like a wonderful plan."

Darcy released one of Lizzy's hands and used the now free limb to grab the ledger books and begin leafing through them. Over the next hour, he pointed out various accounts to Lizzy and explained how he planned to adjust each one to accommodate the expenses that would be required by the school.

"I am determined that food will be provided for the students while they study," Darcy declared as he looked over the budget for the kitchens. "Mrs. Miller never sent anyone away from her house without something in their belly, children especially."

Lizzy leaned forward as much as she was able in her chair to look more closely at the various gardens surrounding the great house. "It looks as though there might be space here to expand the vegetable garden. Can your orchard take one a few extra trees, as well? And perhaps you might consider sacrificing a small part of the woods to set up an extra lot to raise cattle or pigs for the express purpose of the school."

Darcy enthusiastically agreed that all such things were possible. He grabbed a fresh scroll, a quill, and an inkwell to begin scribbling down the ideas before he could forget any. Lizzy laughingly took the tools from him, stating she doubted he would be able to comprehend the notes later, he was so rapidly jumping from one idea to another.

After another two hours, Lizzy and Darcy were both collapsed against their library chairs, tired but satisfied with their endeavors. They had written letters to his stewards, those that managed his accounts in London, and a few of his landed neighbors to give them various details and ask for any further ideas or support. They had discussed how to go about hiring teachers, when the appropriate time came. They determined what the inside of the school should look like. Lizzy helped Darcy figure out which family to name the building for and which family to name the fund for further education after. Curfew was very nearly upon them, but neither felt compelled to move.

"Thank you, Elizabeth," said Darcy heartfully after several minutes of companionable silence.

"I am glad everything has worked out agreeably as possible, considering the circumstances," said Lizzy, lolling her head to the side to look at Darcy. "And I am glad to see you smile again, William."

Darcy, slowly and with purpose, leaned forward in his chair toward Lizzy. "Say it again."

Lizzy felt her smile widen with Darcy's earnest tone and expression. "How strange that my saying your name has such a dramatic effect. You will make me believe such will enable me to have complete and total control of you, William."

"Please say you will let me kiss you."

Lizzy started. Darcy, judging by the widening of his eyes, was surprised the words had escaped his mouth, but he did not rescind them. Instead, he grinned in sheepish anticipation.

Gripped by her teasing nature, Lizzy leaned forward slightly, and even let Darcy put a hand to her neck before whispering, "You have my permission, sir, but you shall have to find a more fitting time and place than _this_."

"When could be a better time than after what you have done for me today?" Darcy asked lowly, his eyes flicking between Lizzy's eyes and her lips.

"I think I should like to be surprised," Lizzy said impishly. "A girl likes to see her man's passionate nature, after all."

"Be careful what you wish for, Elizabeth," Darcy warned. He moved toward her again.

But Lizzy had meant what she said. Knowing, as she did, that Darcy respected her wishes and her person, she wanted to be surprised by him, and she was not overly fond of the idea of her first kiss being in the library, either. Driven by her playful nature, she masterfully slipped out of Darcy's grip and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Elizabeth!" Darcy half whined.

"Goodnight, sir," Lizzy said with mocking formality. She curtsied and, as she turned away, heard Darcy collapse onto the table in frustrated defeat.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Lizzy and Darcy teased each other mercilessly. Whenever Lizzy indicated she thought a time might be appropriate for a kiss, Darcy feigned complete ignorance. Whenever Darcy thought the time might be appropriate, Lizzy danced just out his reach, laughing the entire time.

"You're going to regret playing stupid so often before long, old man," Bingley had said to Darcy after witnessing one such occurrence on the way back from a Hogsmeade trip. Elizabeth, in frustration, had grabbed Jane's arm and sped ahead with her sister.

"I have been learning how to enjoy the moment, Charles, and find the game highly amusing," said Darcy, staring after Elizabeth with a wistful smile. He suddenly turned to Bingley with an arched brow. "Have you _very much_ advice to give on the subject?"

Bingley blushed a violent red and redirected the conversation.

* * *

"This tournament is to last a whole four days?" Lizzy asked, completely aghast, in Flitwick's office during a dueling lesson.

"Now that the candidate pool has narrowed so far, the rules for elimination become much more complicated," Flitwick explained. "Forty will enter, four will remain. In the first round, the loser of each duel will be eliminated. In the second, you will have to lose twice. The last ten will each face _all_ the remaining competitors, and judges will select four to compete in the international competition.

"The first day will be the first round, the second the second, and the third round will be broken up between the last two," Flitwick continued. "Lord Matlock, true to his word, Miss Bennet, has offered to sponsor you."

Lizzy gasped. "You must be joking!"

Flitwick smiled brightly. "I would not be so cruel." He reached into his desk and pulled out a pair of folded documents. "I have here your entry forms. Yours, Mr. Darcy, I have already signed as your sponsor. Sign below, please." Darcy did as he was told without hesitation while Lizzy stared at her form, which bore the Earl of Matlock's signature and seal.

"Sign, Elizabeth," Darcy encouraged.

"But he should be sponsoring _you_," Lizzy objected. "He is _your_ uncle!"

"Miss Bennet, I have already argued with Lord Matlock on your behalf at length," said Flitwick, holding out a quill to her. "He says he has no intention of sponsoring his nephew, as his nephew requires no additional backing to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, such is the disposition of our society. I have been brought around to Augustus's way of thinking in this matter. He will respect your decision if you chose to decline his sponsorship, but I must encourage you whole heartedly to take advantage."

Still somewhat numb with shock, Lizzy signed her name below Lord Matlock's.

"Excellent," said Flitwick, sealing both letters with a flick of his wand. With a few more maneuvers, he had sent the forms off with his personal owl. "Now that is taken care of, we are to the grounds."

"Professor?" Lizzy asked as Flitwick started toward the door.

"Come along, now," Flitwick encouraged.

Lizzy and Darcy exchanged confused looks before following Flitwick.

"Ah, beautiful weather!" Flitwick said cheerfully upon throwing open the doors to the school. "You have spent an extraordinary amount of time dueling each other," he continued as he led the way across the grounds. "It is good practice, certainly, and you have both improved a great deal. In preparation for this next challenge you face, however, I thought it would be a very good idea for you to be put up against a different caliber of opponent."

"You have brought in guests for us to practice with?" Darcy asked.

"Not exactly," Flitwick said evasively. He entered the forbidden forest without breaking stride.

Neither Lizzy nor Darcy had any objection to being in the forest. Lizzy was in there often enough helping Hagrid or, though she would firmly deny ever having done so in front of Kitty and Lydia, wandering about on her own when she could find the opportunity to sneak in. Darcy's thestrals traveled through the forest with the Hogwarts herd, and he checked on them at least once a week. Being brought in by Professor Flitwick for the purpose of dueling, however, made the forest seem more ominous than ever.

Lizzy gasped, then laughed when she saw who Flitwick had roped into dueling. Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Slughorn were all present.

"I hope none of the Hogwarts pranksters recognize how many authority figures are absent tonight," Darcy commented.

"Between the other professors and our very diligent Head Boy and Girl, I think the school might just be kept in order well enough, Mr. Darcy," said Dumbledore with an amused twinkle in his eye.

Lizzy was excessively glad Flitwick had come up with such a scheme. She was able to duel all of her professors multiple times and learned a great many things from her various failures and successes, as well as watching Darcy's. After each duel, none of which Lizzy or Darcy won, a thorough discussion of what had taken place happened. Such conversations were, perhaps, the most helpful of all.

When Lizzy finally eased herself into bed that night, her muscles aching, she was grateful for the humility gained, as well. She had begun to think her skill was truly accomplished overall, rather than just for her age. Being defeated time and again by her professors brought her back to the reality that her knowledge was nowhere near complete yet and that she still had much to learn.

* * *

"Well, Elizabeth, with how many of our opponents are you on friendly terms?" Darcy asked as he and Lizzy looked around the large room.

"Quite a few," Lizzy answered after exchanging a quick greeting with someone. The couple was not able to speak much, which clearly irritated Darcy. As her sponsor, Lord Matlock was privileged to serve as Elizabeth's escort, and so she was on his arm, rather than Darcy's. Before long, Lizzy and Darcy were separated completely.

"Ah, of course Crouch managed to get one of his children through," said Matlock to Lizzy. He pointed to a man of average height who, though he wore a smile, looked as though he was actively cataloging the weaknesses of everyone in his vicinity.

"He looks to be a very quick man," Lizzy said in reply.

"Oh, he is," Matlock agreed. "And over there is Felicia Daelyn, aunt to your friend Miss Weasley. She's as fierce a duelist as I've ever seen."

"Surely she is above the age of competition," Lizzy said.

"Correct again, Miss Bennet, but she has passed her skill on to her stepdaughter," said Matlock, nodding to a wispy looking blonde girl beside his original quarry. "Oh, the girl is pleasant enough outside the ring, but do not underestimate her skill with a wand."

"Matlock, is that you?" said an unfamiliar voice just as Lizzy began to think if Phoebe had ever said anything of her Aunt Felicia. "I heard rumors you were working your way back into the ring!"

Matlock turned himself and Lizzy to face an older couple. It was the lady who had spoken.

"Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom, how good to see you!" Matlock greeted boisterously, extending his hand to shake. "This is Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the bright young witch I have come to sponsor."

"Your sisters are Lydia and Kitty, are they not?" asked Mrs. Longbottom. "Stayed at our son's over the holidays, they did."

"Yes, ma'am," Lizzy answered politely. "My sisters were quite thrilled with the hospitality they experienced. You have raised a good man."

"Of course we have!" said the elderly Mrs. Longbottom.

"Who brings you here today?" Matlock asked.

As the grandparents of Lydia's friend engaged with Matlock, Lizzy looked quickly over her shoulder. Darcy had gone off in the other direction with Flitwick and was being introduced to a tall witch with a square jaw. She quickly directed her attention back where it belonged, and just in time, for Mr. Longbottom had just asked how things were shaping up in the realm of Quidditch at Hogwarts.

Another hour passed in which Lizzy floated through the crowd with Lord Matlock, meeting various sponsors and competitors, as well as people that had come simply to witness the day's spectacle, as was the case with the Longbottoms. Only a select few times did Lizzy feel as though she was being looked down upon by anyone else in the room. Such a feeling seemed strange, considering all the notable persons present, and she was not sure whether she ought to let herself enjoy it or not. Was she being approved of because of Lord Matlock's influence, or was his presence merely allowing prejudiced peoples to look at Lizzy, herself, rather than her blood status?

Lizzy did not have overly long to contemplate the weighty question, once it occurred. She and Matlock found Darcy and Flitwick, and the group sat together in the leveled seats that had been conjured around the single dueling circle that was the focal point of the entire venue.

"Are we to be drawn at random again, Professor?" Darcy asked once settled.

"At your last tournament, you were noted for various strengths and weaknesses," Flitwick answered. "In this first round, you'll be put up against someone whose strength _is_ your weakness."

Lizzy and Darcy exchanged a loaded glance. They were both well aware of their own weaknesses and frequently took advantage of such in their own dueling sessions. To be noted for such and pitted against someone _because_ of said weaknesses was not a pleasant thought to either of them, especially since, in that respect, they complimented each other very well. Lizzy desperately hoped she and Darcy would not be made to go against each other in the first round.

Luckily, Lizzy's worry did not come to fruition. She was called in the third match of the day against a sturdy looking boy from Scarborough by the last name of Howard. Briefly, she wondered if her opponent might be distantly related to Bingley, as they were from the same area and had a few similarities in coloring. In the time it took for everything to be set exactly right for their duel, Lizzy observed her opponent carefully. He would be slower than she was, which was to her advantage.

"He's left-handed, Miss Bennet, so be wary of that," Lord Matlock coached. Unlike previous tournaments, sponsors were allowed to supervise their competitors from just outside the ring, rather than the spectator seats.

Lizzy and Matlock had a hushed conversation on how to adjust strategy for fighting such an opponent, and Lizzy was excessively thankful such an opportunity was afforded her. Matlock was full of suggestions which she eagerly absorbed, having never actually dueled someone left-handed before.

When called to do so, Lizzy drew her wand from up her sleeve and took her place across Howard. Once spells started flying, she was again grateful for her experience of dueling with her professors. Her opponent had a similar flair to Slughorn, which allowed her to quickly hypothesize what his weakness might be. Such might have been to her decided advantage, if not for the fact that Howard, soon after, discovered her weakness as well.

Lizzy forced herself to take deep breaths to keep from panicking. Howard was a formidable adversary and had certainly earned his current position. As Lizzy barely blocked a spell that would have had her flat on her back, she set part of her mind toward adjusting strategy. Howard was quicker than she had assumed, and very decisive. She had figured out his dueling weakness quick enough, that his mass was such that it made it almost impossible for him not to give away what he was doing before he did it, but that was proving not to be enough. Lizzy chose to go onto the defensive to give herself a chance to better study her opponent.

Before long, Lizzy saw sweat beginning to drip down Howard's face, and his chest began to heave. As she danced out of the way of or blocked a quick succession of spells, she saw a flash of annoyance flit across his face and had to repress a smirk from creeping across her own. Howard had little endurance, and the physical energy he had already expended was beginning to affect his mental state.

Lizzy snapped back to offensive spells, though she purposefully aimed to just miss Howard most of the time, forcing him to execute many quick movements, further draining him. She had just begun thinking how to begin her final assault when she felt a sharp pain on her arm, followed by a warm, trickling sensation. She knew herself to be bleeding quite a decent amount but did not let herself look. Her time had just been severely limited. She offered Howard a grim and humorless smile, to which he replied with a quick smirk. They both knew what the other was about.

As she set a Shield Charm, then tumbled out of the way of a wave of conjured hail, Lizzy entertained the idea of using a healing charm on her arm. Already, she felt her breath coming in shorter intervals. The time it took to do so, however, was incredibly valuable, and she was not sure she could risk it.

Lizzy felt herself stumble clumsily after exchanging another few spells. Despite the fact that she had now seen a few droplets of blood flick off her fingertips and that Howard was basting in his own sweat, neither was giving the other any decent opportunities at victory. Lizzy _had_ to figure out a way to break him.

Suddenly, Lizzy restrained a burst of laughter that threatened to escape. She had been so distracted by her own physical ailment she had failed to notice Howard's and take advantage. With a complicated twist of her wand, she sent a freezing blast of air toward Howard. Such shocked his overheated body so much as to allow her just enough time to land a Stunner.

When the overseer of the duel declared Lizzy the winner, she was immediately set upon by a healer. Lord Matlock was not very far behind.

"Well fought, lass!" Matlock boomed with a grin.

Lizzy smiled weakly and took the potion that was being offered to her by the healer.

"You looked about ready to swoon a few times, but you did a marvelous job," Matlock continued.

Lizzy rather thought she might swoon _now_, she felt so very drained. She turned her head, finally, to look at the gash on her arm and flinched at the sight of her own insides.

"Nothing major was opened," the healer said soothingly. "Would have stopped the duel, if that was the case."

Lizzy found it remarkable that such a wound was not considered grievous enough to stop the duel, but supposed she was grateful. Cessation to deal with such an injury would have resulted in her loss.

"Howard. How is he?" Lizzy asked, remembering how flushed Howard had begun to look by the end.

"A few good meals and some rest and he'll be right as rain," the healer answered. "You come back by me before you leave for the night, Miss, and you'll be just fine."

Lizzy smiled at the friendly face and promised she would do so before taking the hand offered her by Lord Matlock to get to her feet.

"Are you well, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked worriedly. He grabbed the hand of Lizzy's uninjured arm as soon as he was able to do so.

"The healer says I may die at any moment now," Lizzy said with excessive gravity, "but I insisted I should come back to the stands, rather than go to St. Mungo's for more extensive treatment."

Darcy's brows drew together in expression of his displeasure at being teased so.

"I am tired, but I will be well," Lizzy promised, and she patted Darcy's cheek comfortingly.

Darcy did not release Lizzy's uninjured hand, though he maintained he was still not pleased at her failure to take her health seriously, and turned his attention to the next duel which was only seconds away from starting.

After the tenth duel, a break for lunch was announced. Lizzy had been preparing to ask Flitwick whether they would be returning to Hogwarts for the meal when Howard approached with his sponsor.

"How's your arm, Bennet?" Howard asked politely after introducing his older cousin as his sponsor.

"I doubt it will scar," Lizzy answered smilingly. "You were a worthy opponent, Howard, and I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to duel you."

Howard expressed the same sentiments, then said he hoped Lizzy and her entire party would join him and his cousin for lunch, as he hoped Lizzy might show him some footwork he had noticed her use.

After conferring with her group, Lizzy accepted the offer, and the whole party went out together. She noted the ease which Matlock, Flitwick, and Howard's sponsor all expressed as they began discussing some of the finer details of a new spell they had all just read about. It did not take her long to recognize that she, Darcy, and Howard were exhibiting the same ease in talking of the duels that had already happened through the day. Lizzy thought this was quite a pleasant way to exist, and decided she should like to remain a part of the dueling scene as long as she possibly could.

Upon completing a pleasant meal, the whole party returned to the dueling venue. Howard said he planned to watch the rest of the tournament to learn all he could from observing other young masters. "Will we be able to stay, Professor, if we are eliminated?" Lizzy asked Flitwick eagerly.

"It is expected of you, Miss Bennet," Flitwick answered.

"It's thought to be bad form if you storm out after your defeat," Matlock added.

Lizzy thought back to her very first opponent in her first tournament. She had not considered it at the time, but the room at large _had_ seemed rather displeased with his abrupt departure.

Darcy was called in the first round of the second half.

"Good luck, Darcy," Lizzy said quietly, then kissed his cheek.

"You, Elizabeth, are infuriating sometimes," Darcy growled lowly.

Lizzy fought a blush. "That was not meant to be a part of our little game!" she objected at a whisper.

"And that is _exactly_ what makes it so infuriating," said Darcy with a snort.

Flitwick loudly cleared his throat, and Darcy quickly squeezed Lizzy's hand before heading down to the ring with his sponsor.

Lizzy shook her head at Darcy's back and decided against trying to understand exactly what he had meant.

Darcy's duel was against Felicia Daelyn's stepdaughter, Phoebe's cousin by marriage. They were incredibly well matched, and Darcy's victory was very narrow.

"Did you note how that was accomplished without any severe injuries to my person?" said Darcy archly upon his return to his seat.

Lizzy rolled her eyes dramatically. "You might as well know, I suppose, that I did, indeed, arrange by injury with Howard before the duel began, all for the express purpose of causing you discomfort."

"I knew it had to be so." Though he spoke flatly, there was a teasing glint in Darcy's eyes that Lizzy enjoyed immensely.

By the day's end, the pool of forty candidates to represent England in the international tournament was narrowed down to twenty, Lizzy and Darcy among the number.

"Come along, Miss Bennet," said Matlock as he rose from his seat after the last duel. "Lady Matlock and Georgiana are expecting you most anxiously."

"I am to return to Hogwarts, I thought," Lizzy said confusedly, looking to Flitwick.

"For the sake of assuring the both of you get proper rest and are not pried for details by your peers, arrangements have been made for you to stay off grounds for the duration of this tournament," said Flitwick.

"Should you prefer, I can take you to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner's," Matlock offered, "but, as your sponsor, I thought it highly appropriate you stay in my home and be looked after by my family."

Lizzy considered how excited her young cousins would be to see her and was already exhausted at the thought. "Perhaps I can send a note requesting to join them for dinner tomorrow night," she said carefully after a moment. "I shall take up your generous offer of hospitality, Lord Matlock."

Lord Matlock was very pleased with Lizzy's decision and brought her to Matlock House via side-along apparition, where she was immediately set upon by Georgiana and, though much more sedately, Lady Matlock.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Monday. Nailed it.

Your opinion is highly valued by me. Please share it!


	30. Chapter 30

Lady Matlock insisted Lizzy go to bed immediately after dinner.

"I thought I might go with Georgiana to the music room," Lizzy carefully countered. The little girl had been moving her fingers across the table as though it was a keyboard throughout dinner, which she had been allowed to join the adults for.

Georgiana looked positively delighted by the idea.

Lady Matlock could not remain so firm when confronted by the anticipation displayed by her reticent niece. "Oh, very well. But only for a half hour, Georgiana. Miss Bennet needs her rest."

"I am much better after that fine meal, my lady," said Lizzy, offering Georgiana the hand of her uninjured arm.

"I've been through enough of these tournaments with my husband to know how to look after you, dearie," said Lady Matlock. "I will become quite cross with you if you are not in bed by the end of this hour."

Lizzy laughed at the pronouncement as Georgiana dragged her away. Lizzy found much joy in listening to Georgiana pluck through several different songs. She had needed to hide a blush when the girl played the lullaby Lizzy knew she had once sang in the forbidden forest to a hippogriff and that Darcy had hummed during one of her breakdowns, for Lady Matlock told her that Darcy, himself, had insisted Georgiana learn the piece and asked the girl to play it nearly every time he came to see her. Georgiana played it with more skill and feeling than anything else.

Lady Matlock made good on her word. Exactly thirty minutes after entering the music room with Georgiana, Lizzy was shunted out of the room and upstairs. She had an efficient maid assigned to her and was settled comfortably only fifteen minutes after making it through the door to her room.

When she woke the following morning, Lizzy felt remarkably well-rested. She had begun going about dressing herself in her freshly laundered dueling robes when the assigned maid came in with a tray and took charge of Lizzy's preparation for the day. Begrudgingly, Lizzy admitted to herself that she enjoyed being on the receiving end of such dedicated attentions from her hosts.

"Good morning, Miss Bennet," Lady Matlock greeted pleasantly when Lizzy entered the breakfast room. She had nibbled from the tray brought to her while getting ready, but looked forward to a full meal.

"Good morning, my lady," Lizzy said with a smile. "As I know you shall ask, I will go ahead and tell you that I slept very well."

Lady Matlock responded by way of quirking an eyebrow from behind her teacup.

"How good of you to be up and about at a reasonable hour, Miss Bennet," said Lord Matlock upon entering the room. "I confess I feared you would be attached to your bed as Georgiana is to hers in the morning."

"Georgiana does not appreciate mornings, I take it?" Lizzy asked.

Lady Matlock snorted in a decidedly unladylike fashion.

Matlock looked affectionately at his wife before attending to Lizzy once again. "We will leave as soon as we finish eating. The first matches are to happen at half past ten."

Lizzy looked at the clock on the wall and started. She had not realized just how late she had slept in; she must have been asleep nearly twelve hours!

"And you will only be more exhausted tonight," said Lady Matlock knowingly.

Lizzy blushed at her thoughts being so accurately found out.

Lord Matlock only grabbed a scone and a cup of coffee before heading for the door again. "I have some letters to attend to before we depart. Eat more than you think you need to, Miss Bennet. You'll be thankful later."

And eat, Lizzy did. Some things she ate because she was truly curious to try them as they were prepared by the Matlocks' excellent cook. Other things she ate because Lady Matlock insisted on it, like the extra serving of ham.

"I hope you will not be averse to my being absent from dinner tonight, my lady," Lizzy said, more to spare herself from having to force more food into her already bulging belly than anything. "I have hopes of dining with my aunt and uncle."

Lady Matlock frowned at the pronouncement. "I think it would be in your best interest to be as inactive as possible outside the ring, Miss Bennet."

"I understand, my lady, and, as my host, if you insist I stay, then I will, but I do so wish to see the Gardiners," Lizzy said with appropriate caution.

Lady Matlock pursed her lips as she thought, then said decidedly, "Leave details to me, Miss Bennet."

Lord Matlock returned before much longer. Lizzy was surprised when Lady Matlock went out to the garden with them.

"I have not yet seen my nephew duel, and have every intention of doing so today," Lady Matlock offered in explanation.

* * *

Darcy felt nearly ready to burst at the sight of Elizabeth walking into the room with his aunt and uncle. To know she was so accepted by his family pleased him excessively. While he was very sorry for his cousin Harland, he was grateful for the change it brought about in the Matlocks. Had Harland not suffered as he did, Elizabeth surely would not have found such acceptance so easily.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," he greeted with a smile.

"Good morning!" Elizabeth chirped.

"No greetings for your aunt and uncle?" asked Lord Matlock. "Look how easily we're forgotten by our dear nephew, Diana!"

Lady Matlock made a show of giving her husband a disapproving look, but it only made him laugh all the more.

"Good morning, Aunt," said Darcy with a slight blush. "Good morning, Uncle."

"The damage is done, boy, no use trying to make up for it now," said Lord Matlock good naturedly. "We see where your priorities lie."

Darcy could not fight his uncle on the point, as the implied assumption was completely correct. He would choose Elizabeth, always. The only person that possibly had a chance against her was Georgiana. Luckily, he did not think he would ever have cause to choose between the two.

Lady Matlock's attendance drew quite a bit of notice. Between people coming to greet her and Elizabeth flagging down acquaintances, Darcy was unable to exchange a single word further with Elizabeth until they took their seats.

"How was your evening?" Darcy asked. His own he had spent wishing he was at Matlock House instead his family home in London.

"Short," Elizabeth laughed. "Your aunt is quite the taskmaster."

Darcy nodded his agreement. His aunt's implacability when it came to her family's health was just one of the reasons he had felt comfortable leaving Georgiana with her. "I am pleased to know you were so well looked after."

"And you?" Elizabeth asked. "Did Lady Matlock send an agent over to Darcy House to assure you got a proper amount of rest?"

"I saw no unfamiliar faces, but I would not be surprised if she bribed my housekeeper to nearly smother me with attention," Darcy chuckled.

The pair quickly sobered as the proceedings for the day began. Since those left competing would all duel at least twice during the day, a second ring had been set up. The first four names were called to step into the rings.

In the fourth bout of the day, Elizabeth and Darcy were called to face each other.

"Well, I suppose it had to happen sometime or another," Flitwick sighed. His face suddenly hardened. "If I believe either of you act in such a way as to throw the duel, I will be excessively disappointed."

"We can each afford to lose one duel today," Elizabeth reasoned. "I see no reason for either of us to take pity on the other." She then looked expectantly at Darcy.

"No mercy," Darcy said with a nod, and he meant it. He would much prefer it if Elizabeth won the duel, but knew how very angry she would be if he _let_ her win, and was also well aware of the fact that the spectators would notice such a thing, as well. It would lower their opinion of her, and he would not have it.

Before Matlock could do so, Darcy offered his arm to Elizabeth and escorted her down to the ring. He heard an increase of whispers as a result of his actions, as well as his uncle chuckling quietly, but found he did not care in the slightest.

"Shall we make this interesting, do you think?" Darcy asked Elizabeth lowly.

"This is not interesting enough, already?" Elizabeth came back with.

Darcy smiled in acknowledgment of the quip. "What would you like, Elizabeth, if you win? Name your terms."

Elizabeth put a finger to her chin as she mocked deep thought. "If I win, you shall have to do _everything_ I say for two days complete," she said decidedly.

"Would my behavior be so very different from what it usually is?" Darcy said laughingly.

"We will find out, won't we?" Elizabeth asked archly. "My first order would be that you were not to argue with me about a single thing. Now _that_ would be a challenge for you, sir."

Darcy bowed his head in acknowledgement. Yes, he did often bend to Elizabeth's wishes, but he fought her on the point first, sometimes winning her over to his side.

"And your terms, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked lightly.

Darcy leaned very close to Elizabeth's ear so there was no chance of being overheard, "If I win, I plan to commemorate my victory with a kiss."

Elizabeth blushed bright red. "Not in front of so many people!" she hissed.

Darcy grinned wickedly and did not answer, resulting in Elizabeth huffing in quite an annoyed fashion. He had no intention of doing so in front of an entire crowd, true enough, but he enjoyed the opportunity to make Elizabeth so nervous. It was a nice change of pace, for she so often made him so.

Matlock and Flitwick had, apparently, also made some sort of bet. The two laughed and shook hands on the deal before parting to opposite sides of the ring.

"Do we have an agreement, Miss Bennet?" Darcy asked lightly as she and he stood just outside the ring.

Elizabeth straightened her spine and looked at Darcy with harsh resolution on her face. "I will not be intimidated by you, sir!"

Darcy flashed a smile, kissed Elizabeth's hand, and went to Flitwick.

"Dare I ask what your exchange was about, Mr. Darcy?" Flitwick asked with a raised brow.

"Just the latest assignment you gave us, Professor," Darcy replied with incredible levity.

"I'm sure," said Flitwick flatly, though he smiled. "Well, I hardly think I need advise you about your opponent."

"No, Professor."

"I would like to hear, once again, that you will not go easy on her, however," said Flitwick.

Darcy could not resist smirking as he watched Elizabeth determinedly ignore him in favor of conversing with Matlock. "I have sufficient desire to win, Professor," he assured. "I will do all that I can."

Flitwick chuckled, wished Darcy luck, and took his spot outside the ring.

The duel between Elizabeth and Darcy would be discussed for the rest of the day. They knew each other so well they were able to predict actions with remarkable accuracy, which made the entire exchange highly entertaining to watch. That the competitors smirked knowingly at each other throughout the duel was also a point of great interest to the spectators.

In the end, Darcy managed to trip Elizabeth with a well-timed jinx made possible by his ability to predict her motions, and he was able to disarm her while she stumbled.

"I believe this means I've won, Miss Bennet," Darcy whispered as he offered Elizabeth her wand back.

Elizabeth stood with her hands on her hips. "If you think I'm not going to evade you in front of all these people, you are _sorely_ mistaken, sir!"

Darcy smiled a little too innocently, then offered his arm after Elizabeth snatched her wand back. "I did not say my commemoration would be _immediate_. I like to keep you guessing."

"I begin to think you are a wolf, Darcy," Elizabeth huffed as she accepted his arm.

"Only when it comes to you," Darcy said lightly. "Do brighten up, my dear, or people will think you a sore loser."

"Heaven forbid I be thought of as the dour one in this relationship!" Elizabeth exclaimed, breaking into a wide smile.

"Indeed," Darcy said, quickly assembling his mask. "I should hate for people to think me a pleasant man. Such would encourage them to attempt conversing with me. Thank you, Miss Bennet, for bringing me back to my senses."

"You are excessively welcome, Mr. Darcy."

"Come, Miss Bennet, and sit by me," said Lady Matlock when Elizabeth and Darcy returned. "I will shield you from my nephew's smugness over his victory."

Elizabeth accepted Lady Matlock's offer with an exaggerated disdainful look at Darcy.

"I suppose now would not be a good time to beg an invitation to dinner?" Darcy ventured with a smirk.

"Miss Bennet and I shall discuss whether such an invitation might be issued at length," Lady Matlock said haughtily.

Darcy smiled as he turned away, fully aware that Lady Matlock and Elizabeth were only acting. He was so very happy they got along as well as they did.

* * *

By the day's end, Elizabeth and Darcy had each only suffered one loss, and so would continue to compete in the last two days of the tournament. Both were entirely exhausted. Elizabeth had stood up four times. Darcy five.

"Oh, I suppose you can join us for dinner, Darcy," said Lady Matlock as she watched Darcy get up from his seat with some amount of difficulty.

"Thank you kindly, Aunt," Darcy said with a relieved smile.

"And Filius, you must, of course, join us as well," Lady Matlock said to the professor.

"Alas, Lady Matlock, I am required at Hogwarts this evening," Flitwick sighed. "I trust my competitor will be well looked after."

"Oh, certainly," said Matlock, "even if he did best my own competitor in her first duel of the day."

Lady Matlock apparated with Elizabeth, Darcy with his uncle.

Georgiana squealed in delight when she caught sight of her brother, and Darcy was so tired he almost failed to catch her when she launched herself at him. He sat down with her quickly.

"And how are you today, dearest?" Darcy asked his sister. He was aware that others were moving about him, but devoted the entirety of his attention to his sister. She had not even the slightest trace of fear upon her face, and he was entirely lost in pleasure at the sight.

Georgiana leaned toward her brother's ear. "I am happy today," she told him.

Darcy immediately crushed his sister to his chest. He had not heard her say such a thing since before she had been kidnapped. He felt Georgiana giggle and thought he could not possibly be filled with more joy. He was pleasantly surprised to find he was wrong.

Georgiana squirmed out of her brother's embrace, then went over to Elizabeth and raised her arms in a request to be picked up. Despite the fact that Elizabeth was pale with exhaustion and had been rubbing the sight of her previous injury all day, she did not hesitate before taking Georgiana in her arms and settling the little girl on her hip.

Darcy wished he could have a painting made of the vision before him, but knew the image would never do the reality of the sight proper justice. If he were to suddenly die at that very moment, he could not complain.

Lord Matlock gently removed Georgiana from Elizabeth and set about distracting the girl so Elizabeth and Darcy could both simply rest. Lady Matlock saw to the ordering of dinner and preparation of a room for Darcy. Within an hour, everyone had a full stomach and the lady of the house demanded the two young duelists she hosted go to sleep.

Darcy offered his arm to Elizabeth to escort her to her room and managed to find some spring in his step.

"I did not think I would ever say I was tired of dueling," Elizabeth said as she and Darcy labored to climb the stairs, "but so it is. I wish we had a full day to recuperate."

Darcy gave noncommittal replies to Elizabeth's various observations until, finally, they were outside her door.

"Well, goodnight, Darcy," Elizabeth said after stifling a yawn. "I trust you will go directly to sleep, yourself."

Darcy quickly glanced down both ends of the hallway, then grabbed Elizabeth's hands and stepped until he was so close his nose nearly touched her forehead. "I haven't forgotten the deal we made earlier, my dear."

Elizabeth eye's widened, then she smiled archly. "Oh? You'll have to remind me, sir, what deal we made, as I find I have completely forgotten having done so."

"Tease," Darcy muttered. Quickly, before she could impishly turn her head away, he swooped down and planted his lips on hers. There he blissfully remained for several moments until slowly drawing away. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, set his forehead to hers, closed his eyes, and sighed contentedly.

Elizabeth cleared her throat after some amount of time.

Darcy opened his eyes and moved so he could see the whole of his beloved's face. "Yes, my dear?" he asked.

Elizabeth smiled in such a way as he had never seen before, then placed her hands on his arms still wrapped around her. "I do like hearing you call me that," she whispered.

"And I like saying it," Darcy replied.

"I think it would be in our best interest to part ways before your aunt comes to see if we have followed her orders or not."

Darcy groaned and set his forehead to Elizabeth's again.

Suddenly, Darcy felt lips against his. His eyes snapped open in surprise. Elizabeth took advantage of his handicap by slipping out of his arms and opening her door. "Goodnight, William," she whispered before closing herself into her room.

Fitzwilliam Darcy might as well have walked on air to his own chamber. He fell into a deep sleep remarkably quickly, more pleased with life than he had been for well over two years.

* * *

"Here is your schedule for today and tomorrow, Miss Bennet," said Lord Matlock, approaching with a scroll after stopping at the sponsors' table.

Lizzy took what was offered her and perused. She would have five duels today and four tomorrow. Luckily, she had nearly an hour and a half to rest between each of her bouts and, in contrast to all other duels before, today's would have a time limit of five minutes. "So I open today? What time do we start?"

Matlock looked at his pocket watch. "We have nearly twenty minutes. Who is your first opponent? Crouch? Well, come. Let us find the Longbottoms and see what observations they have to offer."

Lizzy accepted Matlock's arm and wove through the crowd with him until finally coming upon the older couple. Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom were quite happy to offer Lizzy several general pointers, as well as give specified advice for combating Robert Crouch.

Felicia Daelyn joined the group after a time, though her stepdaughter was not at her side. "Perhaps you might introduce me to your competitor, Lord Matlock," she said kindly upon approach.

"Certainly," said Matlock. "Mrs. Daelyn, allow me to introduce to you Miss Elizabeth Bennet, sixth year at Hogwarts, of Gryffindor House."

Lizzy found she rather preferred this introduction to that of being "Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire."

"Miss Bennet, Mrs. Felicia Daelyn, winner of various tournaments and competitions throughout Great Britain and a graduate of Hogwarts, herself," Matlock continued.

Lizzy shook hands with Felicia and smiled pleasantly. "I hoped I might meet your stepdaughter," she said.

"Ellen will be along shortly, and I shall be pleased to introduce you," said Felicia. "I understand you are familiar with my niece, Phoebe Weasley?"

"She is one of my dearest friends!" Lizzy said excitedly. She delighted in conversing with Felicia and was fairly buzzing with pleasure when provided with various things she might use to tease her friend.

"I have long been disappointed that Phoebe's interest could not be directed toward dueling," Felicia sighed. "She has such spark. I'm sure she would do well."

"She may have no great interest in dueling, but she applies herself devotedly to Quidditch and is quite the fierce player," Lizzy said.

Felicia laughed. "The Weasley children are forever tormenting my poor sister by staying out until all hours of the night flying around their grounds."

Matlock, who had been continuing to engage with the Longbottoms, tapped Lizzy's shoulder to garner her attention. "It is time, Miss Bennet."

Lizzy parted with Felicia and accepted Lord Matlock's escort down to the ring.

"Remember, Miss Bennet," Matlock said lowly as they made their way, "you have only five minutes to convince the judges that you are more worthy to represent England than Crouch."

"Yes, my lord," Lizzy dutifully replied.

"If you cannot win in that amount of time, at least be sure to make it an impressive draw," Matlock continued. "After all, there will be a good deal of draws in the next two days. The more memorable yours are, the better."

Lizzy dutifully listened to her sponsor as he spouted last minute bits of advice all the way down to the ring, where he released her to take her place.

Robert Crouch, rising to meet all expectations, was a noteworthy opponent. By the end of her five minutes with him, Lizzy felt well and truly drained, though she was pleased to see Crouch was in the same position. They shook hands, shared a quick few observations with each other, and parted civilly.

When Lizzy resumed her seat, it was to find that she and Darcy had been joined by Felicia and her daughter, as well as Howard and his sponsor. Throughout the next several duels, Lizzy was happy to talk with Ellen Daelyn. The girl was not terribly close with Phoebe, as Felicia had only married her father three years previously, but was genial enough that she and Lizzy were able to converse easily. Lizzy delighted in hearing Ellen speak of all the places she and her father had travelled. Admiral Daelyn had retired from the Navy five years previously and had always traveled with his wife and daughter.

"Was it not terrifying?" Lizzy asked interestedly after listening to Ellen tell the tale of a massive sea storm.

"Oh, I hardly remember," said Ellen. "I was in the family cabin with my mother, who was quite the expert at distracting me. I'm sure she used a variety of spells to make the storm less noticeable to me."

"You must miss her very much," Lizzy said sympathetically.

"On the daily," Ellen readily confessed. "Felicia is a wonderful woman, however, and I am pleased to have her in my life."

After hearing so many stories of different lands from Ellen, Lizzy was all the more resolved she should make it into the final four of the entire tournament so she could see different peoples for herself and travel to India, to boot.

When it came time for Darcy's first duel of the day, Lizzy squeezed his hand a smiled encouragingly.

"Nothing more for good luck?" Darcy asked lowly, with an arched brow.

"_You_, sir, are incorrigible," Lizzy laughed. She lightly pushed him away. "Off you go!"

"You're quite the lucky girl, Lizzy," said Ellen wistfully after Darcy had walked out of hearing range.

Lizzy basked in the compliment, feeling the truth of it. "Well, if you should truly like to get your cousin Phoebe involved in conversation, you can ask her all about myself and Darcy when next you meet. I'm sure her rendition of our knowing each other will be highly entertaining."

"Oh?" Ellen asked interestedly. "And you do not want to tell me, yourself?"

Lizzy laughed. "I have been teased by Phoebe enough. I will not give you my own recounting of the events, as they will likely clash quite horribly with what Phoebe will say and only lead her to annoy me further!"

Ellen shared Lizzy's amusement, though the pair quieted soon after as Darcy took his place opposite his first opponent of the day, Elijah Ridgeway. Lizzy was familiar with Elijah. A Slytherin, he had graduated Hogwarts two years past and now worked with dragons. Despite the fact that their houses were enemies, she and he had gotten along fairly well, bonded by their admiration of various magical creatures.

When Darcy came back to his seat after his match with Elijah having timed out, he leaned on Lizzy for support.

"That was very well done, Darcy," Lizzy said as Darcy rested his head on her shoulder. "Elijah only has the one notable scar after his two years of fighting dragons, and yet you kept him occupied a full five minutes. It seems you are as formidable as the greatest of reptiles."

"Perhaps I will do for guarding your cellar, then," Darcy mumbled. "It would save me a good deal of funds and bother."

Lizzy laughed lightly and shrugged her shoulder to encourage Darcy to sit upright again as the next contestants took their places.

* * *

Elizabeth and Darcy somehow managed not to lose a single duel throughout the day, though they did not win any, either. All their matches came to draws. Flitwick and Matlock both assured that this was a favorable outcome, as it showed incredible endurance and skill under pressure.

"I'm so tired I don't even know that I'll make it through dinner," Elizabeth whispered as she and Darcy followed their sponsors to the appropriate site for apparition.

"I'm sure Lady Matlock will assure we are fed, whether we are conscious for the meal or not," Darcy answered wearily. He nodded at another finalist in passing, who seemed just as spent as Elizabeth and Darcy were.

"Oddly enough, the idea of being force fed while unconscious currently holds a great deal of appeal," said Elizabeth.

"I think, Augustus, it might be wiser for our charges to travel by floo than side-along," Flitwick suggested as they neared the area of departure.

Matlock looked at Elizabeth and Darcy, who might as well have been swaying on their feet, only a moment before agreeing.

Darcy was grateful for the suggestion. He and all his other classmates had begun studying apparition several weeks prior and, while he was much more used to the uncomfortable sensation now, he had not been looking forward to such an experience after his long day. He went through the fire right after Lord Matlock. Elizabeth followed quickly behind.

"Aunt Gardiner!" Elizabeth squealed almost as soon as she tumbled out of the grate. Her exhaustion was forgotten in her rush to greet her aunt.

Darcy blinked several times as he processed the fact that the Gardiners, both Muggle-borns that came from trade, had been invited to dine at the Earl of Matlock's house. He had not realized the transformation of his aunt and uncle had been so complete.

"Where is Georgiana?" Darcy asked his own aunt while Elizabeth chattered excitedly with hers.

"Georgiana has made a new friend," Lady Matlock said with deep contentment. "They have been above stairs for well over an hour."

Darcy abandoned the parlor with alacrity and took the stairs two at a time. That his sister might have a friend just seemed too good to be true.

"…and I shall be a Gryffindor, just like Lizzy!" said a small voice excitedly that Darcy vaguely recognized as he approached his sister's door.

Darcy slowed dramatically and crept the rest of the way to his sister's room, that he might open the door more fully and observe how his sister behaved without knowledge of his presence.

"Do you hope to be a Ravenclaw like your brother?" Darcy was able to match the voice to the face of Elizabeth's cousin Irene. "I think the colors of the house suit you well, but I've always thought being a Ravenclaw would be boring."

Strewn about the room were various bits of fabric and ribbons that matched the colors of the Hogwarts houses. Irene had a scarlet cloak about her shoulders and a quill in her hand, as though it were a wand. Georgiana held no such prop.

Georgiana shrugged in response to Irene's questioning, but that did not deter Irene in the slightest.

"Mama says I will tire my professors dreadfully," said Irene. "I can use some magic already at will, you know. Have you managed?"

Georgiana shook her head and flexed her fingers several times.

"Well, that's not so unusual," Irene said with a wave of her small hand. "Come on, Georgie! You must pick a house, or we cannot get on with our game!"

Darcy held his breath as Georgiana looked at the colored scarves Irene had placed before her. She had displayed a strong aversion to participating in anything remotely magical since the incident resulting in Mrs. Younge's death.

Irene continued prattling on about each of the houses until, finally, Georgiana set her hand on the scarf bearing the colors of Gryffindor, if not in an appropriate design for the house.

Darcy felt tears sting his eyes as Georgiana wrapped the scarf around her small shoulders like a shawl. The commonplace motion was anything but.

"Oh, hello, Mr. Darcy!" said Irene, finally spotting Darcy in the doorway.

Georgiana turned, smiled, and ran at her brother.

"Hello, dearest," Darcy said hoarsely once his sister was in his arms.

"Just like Lizzy," Georgiana said, showing the scarf to her brother.

Darcy kissed his sister's cheek. "Gryffindor would be a fine choice, Georgiana. Any house would be lucky to have you," he declared.

Georgiana blushed and began fiddling with her brother's collar.

"Hogwarts is not so very scary, dearest," Darcy told his nervous sister soothingly. Now that she had willingly displayed some interest in the magical world, he was eager to take advantage.

Irene approached and tugged on Darcy's sleeve, drawing his attention. "Has Lizzy come with you?"

"Miss Bennet is in the parlor with your parents," Darcy answered. "I'm sure she would be very happy to see you, Miss Gardiner."

"Come, Georgie!" Irene said excitedly. "Let us go see Lizzy!"

Georgiana patted her brother's shoulder, a gesture he knew to be a request to release her. As soon as she was on the ground again, Irene grabbed her arm and the little girls began making their way through the halls. Darcy followed close behind, drinking in the joy of seeing his sister behave _almost_ like a normal child her age.

Irene shrieked with pleasure at the sight of her cousin and began demanding details of the days of dueling without delay.

Darcy looked down to his side when his sister pulled insistently on his hand. At her beckoning, he lowered himself to his knees, though his legs protested him doing such. "Yes, Georgiana?" he asked.

"Is Lizzy to be my sister?" Georgiana asked quietly with unmistakable hope in her eyes.

Darcy thought his heart might melt. "I certainly hope so, dearest," he answered.

"When?" Georgiana eagerly demanded.

Darcy bought time to compose himself by leaning forward to kiss his sister's forehead. "All in good time, dearest. In good time."

Georgiana pouted, for she was not satisfied with such an answer. Darcy felt rather the same way. He would have preferred to give an exact date, one in the near future, but had no such luck.

"Are those Gryffindor colors you're wearing, Georgiana?" Elizabeth asked, a smile in her voice. "Your brother will try to talk you out of them, I'm sure, but don't you dare let him!"

Disappointment forgotten, Georgiana skipped over to Elizabeth and showed her the makeshift shawl.

Dinner was wonderful on a great many fronts. Lady Matlock and Mrs. Gardiner seemed to genuinely enjoy each other's conversation. Lord Matlock and Mr. Gardiner were pleased to see their wives so happy, and thus were disposed to like each other, as well. Irene kept a steady stream of conversation with Georgiana the entire time, even if the latter said hardly a single word. Darcy was content to listen to the conversations around him and hold Elizabeth's hand under the table as he ate. If he dropped a few more things than usual, he felt comfortable being able to blame his state of exhaustion for the blunders rather than the fact his utensil was in his left hand, as his right was more agreeably occupied.

After being forced to consume third helpings of most everything available, Elizabeth and Darcy were ordered to go to their rooms by Lady Matlock. Darcy hoped he might be able to steal another kiss, but Lord Matlock laughingly declared he thought it likely the pair would collapse on the stairs and that he should escort them both to their respective rooms.

* * *

The last day of the tournament was absolutely grueling. Every last one of the competitors was incredibly tired, though they managed to summon enough energy to do themselves credit whenever called into the ring. On days previous, friendly words were exchanged between bouts and people switched seats frequently. Today, however, there was little conversation and even littler movement.

When it came time for Lizzy and Darcy to duel again, the crowd perked up considerably. After their duel timed out, they leaned heavily on each other on their way back to their seats. Felicia and Ellen offered them compliments and a few sweets they had picked up the previous day in Diagon Alley. Lizzy accepted the offered treats gratefully.

Lizzy was just about ready to cry with relief when she finished her last duel. She was not sure she had ever felt so very physically spent. "What now, Lord Matlock?" she asked with a wince as she settled back into her seat.

"Now, we watch Darcy's last duel," said Matlock. "He's closing."

"Exactly, my lord," said Lizzy, somewhat irritably. "What happens after?"

"We break for dinner," Matlock answered. "We'll reconvene in two hours, by which time the judges will hopefully have selected the champions."

"And if not?" Lizzy asked warily.

"If they are struggling on coming to a decision between a few duelers, another demonstration will be requested."

Lizzy set her face in her hands and groaned.

Darcy's last battle ended, predictably, in a draw. Rather than bothering with stumbling to his seat, he waited for his party to join him on the floor following the announcement of a break for dinner and deliberation.

Lady Matlock was prepared for the arrival of her husband, nephew, and guests. She had a light meal ready, which Lizzy and Darcy eagerly devoured, and then sent them to bed for a well-earned nap. Much to their displeasure, she assured they were awake half an hour before the awards ceremony would start. Their ire was mitigated, however, when she offered them more food.

"Oh, I'm so very nervous now," Lizzy told Darcy when they were back in their seats. The judges of the tournament stood down on the floor, the dueling rings having been removed.

Darcy's response was to simply kiss Lizzy's hand. He was rather anxious, as well, and preferred not to speak.

Elijah Ridgeway was announced first. He and his sponsor joined the judges on the floor and accepted congratulations graciously. Elijah looked as though he might fall over, asleep, at any given moment, but his happiness at being chosen was obvious.

Sophia Capulet, a woman of twenty years that had always been taught from home, was named next. She and Lizzy had shared a last duel and very nearly bested each other several times.

When Lizzy heard her name called by the judges, she froze, certain she had heard incorrectly.

"Come along now, Miss Bennet!" said Matlock jovially, offering his arm.

Feeling numb, Lizzy accepted Matlock's escort, shook hands with the judges, and waited for the last champion to be named.

It was Darcy.

* * *

**Author's ****Note**

Not to toot my own horn, but... there is SO MUCH cute in this chapter! Also, just so you know, I love writing Georgiana.

Please share your thoughts!


	31. Chapter 31

Lizzy and Darcy spent another night at Matlock House. Celebrations upon their return were short, though sincere. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner congratulated their niece via floo call. Dinner was eagerly consumed. Lizzy and Darcy were asleep less than half an hour after eating their last bite.

Lizzy very nearly threw her pillow at the maid that woke her.

"Lady Matlock says you must be up now, Miss," said the maid apologetically. "Your classes start in forty-five minutes."

Lizzy's eyes snapped open and she hurried to get ready with the maid's help. When she made her way down to breakfast, she found Darcy already awake and shoveling food down with as much decorum as he could manage in such a narrow timeframe. Lizzy ate what she could and wrapped a few more things up in a napkin before stepping through the Matlock's fireplace and coming out of the one in Flitwick's office.

"Good morning, Miss Bennet, Mr. Darcy," Flitwick said cheerfully.

Adrenaline having worn off from rushing to prepare for the day, Lizzy felt weariness grip her again. "Perhaps to some," she said bitterly.

Flitwick only laughed. "Off you go! It won't do for you to be late to your first class back."

"How dreadfully cruel of him to be so very chipper when we are so miserable," said Darcy mildly as he and Lizzy began winding through the halls.

"Not _so_ very miserable," said Lizzy. "We are, after all, to travel to India in a mere five weeks!"

Darcy set his arm around Lizzy's shoulder and pulled her to him so he could kiss her temple. "I suppose you're right. I will only allow myself to be a little miserable, then."

* * *

"I think I've seen ghosts that look more alive than you!" Phoebe said by way of greeting at lunch.

"Maybe they've been killed and turned to inferi," Zebulon ventured morbidly, and poked Lizzy's arm as if to test his hypothesis.

"Ha ha," Lizzy said drily. "You would not look much better if you'd gone through the tournament we did!"

"Well, are you going to India?" Josephine asked eagerly, glancing between Lizzy and Darcy.

"We both are," Lizzy said with a contented smile.

Lizzy and Darcy were hardly allowed to speak of anything else the rest of the day. Everyone wanted details of their duels.

"I am so very pleased for you," Jane said in her gentle manner when Darcy and Lizzy joined her and Bingley for dinner. "I know how interested you are to see magic practiced by different peoples."

"Oh, I wish you could come along, Jane!" Lizzy exclaimed.

"I would only irritate you with my constant worry," said Jane with a smile.

"When do you return from the competition?" Bingley asked. "Do you know yet?"

"We will leave straight from Hogwarts," Darcy supplied, "and should be back within three and a half weeks."

Bingley turned to Jane. "July, then, do you think?" he asked eagerly. "Is that agreeable?"

"Very agreeable, Charles," Jane answered with a radiant smile.

Lizzy looked expectantly at the engaged couple until, finally, Bingley gave the anticipated explanation.

"Jane and I wanted to wait until we knew of your plans to set our date," Bingley offered. "The first available date in July will see us wed!"

Lizzy beamed and declared her excitement.

"Will you assemble your trousseau while I am away, Jane?" Lizzy asked as Darcy heartily shook Bingley's hand.

"Only enough of it to appease Mama," said Jane. "I intend to get most of my robes, at least, from the maker in Hogsmeade. They are of a fine quality, even if not as sought after as the shops from Diagon Alley."

The sisters tended their own conversation while the men tended theirs for a few more minutes until discussions merged.

"Will you keep Netherfield, Bingley?" Darcy asked. "You could floo in for class on the daily, I suppose."

Bingley and Jane exchanged a loaded look. "We will stay at Netherfield for the summer," Jane answered delicately. "We intend on taking a cottage in Hogsmeade for seventh year. Beyond that our plans are not fixed."

"While our ladies are at the robe maker's on Saturday, Darcy, I hope you will accompany me to look at several such cottages," said Bingley. "I've already sent a few letters out."

Darcy readily agreed to Bingley's suggestion.

After dinner, Darcy and Lizzy began making their way to the library. They were to be joined by Jane and Bingley after Jane tended to a few of her duties as head girl. The engaged couple had agreed to catch their fellows up on what they had missed while at the tournament.

"I am so very happy for Jane," Lizzy sighed contentedly as she and Darcy strolled the halls. "She is so excited to become Mrs. Bingley!"

"And Bingley is very much looking forward to her taking the title," said Darcy.

"Louisa will surely be happy to have someone take over duties as hostess when the baby comes," Lizzy added.

"Caroline will be disappointed, though," Darcy countered.

Lizzy scrunched her nose. "Caroline is of such a disposition she will be disappointed with everything!"

"That's very true," Darcy conceded.

"I do so look forward to meeting Baby Hurst," Lizzy said, her smile reappearing. "I imagine there will be a Baby Bingley to keep its cousin company before eighteen months are gone!"

Darcy suddenly turned pensive.

"Darcy?" Lizzy queried. She stopped their progression to better look at his face. "What is the matter?"

"Nothing is the matter, my dear."

"You were so happy but a moment ago," Lizzy insisted.

"I am only thinking, Elizabeth."

"Of what?"

Darcy ground his teeth a little as he considered his answer. "I was thinking of what other cousins the children of the Hursts and Bingleys might enjoy."

"Well of course they should – Oh," Lizzy gasped as she caught Darcy's meaning. She felt herself blush as Darcy looked at her intently. "I don't know that I'm – that is to say, I – I mean, I would like – "

Darcy cut Lizzy off with a quick kiss.

"I don't mean to fluster you, my love," Darcy said lowly. "When you are ready, I will be waiting, but I would not see you rushed."

"Thank you," was all Lizzy could think to say in response.

They resumed their journey to the library, each absorbed in their own thoughts.

* * *

"All right there, Higgins?" Lizzy asked smartly as she ripped the Quaffle from his grasp.

"Will be once that Bludger hits you," Higgins quipped.

Lizzy dove quickly out of the way of the Bludger speeding toward her, then threw the Quaffle off to Octavius before another attempt could be made on her.

Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw was the last Quidditch game of the term, and the winner would take the Quidditch Cup. Lizzy's attention had been greatly occupied by the event, to the point where she had been caught doodling plays and formations in her notes by various professors.

"Watch for the feint!" Higgins shouted at his Keeper as Octavius zoomed toward the goalposts.

Octavius missed, but Phoebe quickly regained control of the Quaffle and succeeded where he had not. Higgins called a timeout thereafter.

"On their best today, Ravenclaw is," said Levi breathlessly as Gryffindor team gathered together at their end of the pitch.

"Aye, but we're not doing so bad ourselves," said Siobhan.

"How do things look from your vantage point, Ezra?" Lizzy asked her Seeker.

"Reese seems to be favoring his left today more than usual, but nothing remarkable," Ezra answered with a shrug. "I've seen the Snitch a few times, but Motley's keeping a close eye on me," he added sullenly. Motley, Ravenclaw's seeker, knew Ezra had better eyesight than she did, but she had a superior broom. In their scrimmages, she would frequently wait until Ezra started after the Snitch, then overtake him and beat him to it.

"Sounds like it's time for you to start faking her out," Phoebe scoffed.

"Agreed," said Lizzy. "Give her so many false starts she gives up on watching you, Ezra."

Ezra nodded dutifully.

"Julian, Levi, watch my left a little more closely for me, would you?" Lizzy asked her Beaters. "If Higgins hadn't been fool enough to warn me, I would have had the breath knocked out of me just a few minutes ago."

"Ogden and Linton have been holding out on us in scrimmages, I'd wager," said Julian.

"Of course they have, fool!" Phoebe scolded. "You've been doing the same."

"I want to do some quick passes, at least for a little bit," Lizzy said to Octavius and Phoebe. "Keep close. Only hold the Quaffle for a few seconds, if that. I want to keep Ravenclaw guessing."

Madam Hooch blew the whistle and both teams took their positions again.

Lizzy's team followed her instructions wonderfully. Within ten minutes, Ezra was free of Motley's shadow, Julian had saved her from two more Bludgers, and Levi _almost_ unseated Higgins. She, Phoebe, and Octavius passed the Quaffle so quickly that even Lizzy had trouble tracking it at times. She was quite pleased when the next timeout was called.

"Don't become overconfident," Lizzy advised when Siobhan approached with a gleeful whoop. "We're in a good position now, but we know all too well that may not hold. Ezra, don't catch the Snitch unless we hold at least a forty-point lead."

Ezra craned his head to look at the scoreboard. "As long as Siobhan keeps her pace, there'll be no concerns there."

"Julian, Levi," Lizzy said commandingly, "forget us Chasers and keep on Motley. If she starts going for the Snitch, _you stop her_."

Julian saluted somewhat mockingly while Levi nodded firmly.

"Phoebe, Octavius, we're mostly on our own. Do we all remember the commands Siobhan taught?" As a precaution, Lizzy had asked Siobhan to teach each member of the team certain words in Gaelic so they could communicate in secret on the field. No one on Higgin's team spoke the language.

Phoebe and Octavius both responded in Siobhan's native tongue and, though the Keeper laughed at their pronunciation, Lizzy was satisfied. She ordered her fellow Chasers to keep an eye out for Bludgers and warn each other just as Hooch called for play to resume.

"Using Siobhan against us like that is certainly a trick, Bennet!" Higgins shouted when he rushed at her to disrupt her flight path.

Lizzy smirked. "Nothing in the rules against other languages!" she replied.

"Just you wait until next year, then!" Higgins laughed. "I'm now determined to learn a whole host of languages over the summer!"

Lizzy smiled sweetly at Higgins until he became uncomfortable, then pulled up abruptly just as a Bludger collided with his shoulder.

Ezra was suddenly streaking across the pitch, Motley close behind. Lizzy shouted out in Gaelic for Octavius to block Motley's path, which he did without hesitation. Motley was slowed only momentarily as she diverted around him, but it did allow Ezra just a little more wiggle room. Motley was hampered further by having to dodge a Bludger from Julian, then almost immediately after by Levi. She flattened herself on her broom, but it was not enough. Ezra caught the Snitch and all of Gryffindor erupted in a cacophony of cheers.

Lizzy flew to her Seeker and ruffled his hair while Julian, Levi, and Octavius all bowed to him on their brooms while pretending to cry. Siobhan approached and pinched Ezra's cheeks affectionately while Phoebe yelled at her brother to stop behaving like an idiot.

Professor McGonagall, wearing a Gryffindor flag like a cape, met the team on the ground. "Excellent strategies, Bennet!" McGonagall shouted over all the noise. "Excellent!"

Lizzy swelled with pride as McGonagall removed the flag from her own shoulders and draped it around Lizzy's. She laughed gleefully as her housemates rushed the field and lifted the team onto their shoulders. Gryffindor had lost the cup to Hufflepuff by only a few points last year and had not even been in the running the year before that. They were excessively pleased to be in possession of the honor.

"Tonight, no one in Gryffindor Tower sleeps!" Zebulon cried. "Tonight, we celebrate!"

"Would you care to amend your statement, Mr. Thomas, Prefect of Gryffindor House?" McGonagall asked archly, though she was still bearing an uncharacteristic smile.

Zebulon began trying to smooth talk McGonagall, an effort everyone knew would fail, while Gryffindor team was whisked away back toward the castle.

When it came time for Gryffindor to descend from their tower to join the rest of the school for dinner, members of the Quidditch team were again hoisted onto shoulders. Lizzy felt such great affection for her housemates she could not muster up any irritation for being jostled around so much. She could not even be annoyed at the fact she had yet to be afforded the opportunity to change out of her Quidditch robes.

It was difficult for Lizzy to manage, but she did disentangle herself from her enthusiastic housemates long enough at one point to find her way to Ravenclaw table and approach Higgins.

"No hard feelings, Garrett?" Lizzy asked politely, holding out her hand to shake.

Higgins sighed dramatically before shaking Lizzy's hand with a grim smile. "It was a game well played, Lizzy. We'll get you next year."

"I look forward to seeing what you come up with," Lizzy laughed. She next looked to Darcy, who was seated next to Higgins. "And you, sir? Do you bear any ill will towards me?"

"If Higgins does not find fault in your antics, it would hardly be fair for me to do so," said Darcy emotionlessly.

Lizzy arched a brow in response to Darcy's aloof manner. She might have challenged him on it, had not Lydia come over to grab her arm and drag her back to Gryffindor table.

* * *

"So you managed to get away from the rest of Gryffindor, I see," said Darcy as he closed the door to their study tower behind him and leaned against it.

Lizzy grabbed Menace, who she had been playing with moments before, and perched herself on the edge of the table. "Well, I could hardly be faulted for going to look after my cat. Pleased as Gryffindor is with me, they are unwilling to allow Menace entry to the common room again."

"I owe Menace a debt of gratitude, then," said Darcy as he approached Lizzy. He gently extracted the cat from her arms and set the creature on the floor, despite Menace's protests.

"You have a strange way of showing it," Lizzy countered as Menace meowed pitifully.

"I did not say I intended on paying him immediately," said Darcy, stepping forward again until his legs were nearly against Lizzy's knees. "I very much enjoyed watching you on the pitch today, my dear."

"I wouldn't say as much to Higgins," Lizzy advised with a laugh. "He just might throw your trunk out a window or hang your clothes out in the Great Hall, as vengeance."

"If that is how Higgins would react to my statement of admiration," said Darcy, beginning to lean toward Lizzy's face, "I should hate to think how he would react to this." And Darcy kissed Lizzy in a much different way than he had done before, leaving them both short of breath.

"Well that was new," Lizzy gasped, putting her hands to her flushed cheeks.

"But not disagreeable, I would hope?" Darcy said with some amount of anxiety. He still had a hand cradling the back of Lizzy's head.

"No, indeed," Lizzy said as her eyes lit with mischief. "Quite the opposite, in fact."

"You, my love, will drive me mad," Darcy declared before leaning in again.

The pair were interrupted by Menace hopping onto the table, climbing into Lizzy's lap, and beginning to claw at Darcy's chest.

"Alright, alright!" Darcy said irritably, stepping back slightly and carefully unhooking Menace's claws from his robes.

Lizzy laughed and began scratching her cat's ears. Menace glared at Darcy as he began purring from Lizzy's attentions.

"_Now_ I can see why Gryffindor doesn't want him around," Darcy sulked.

"This quirk is quite new," said Lizzy, "and, I think you should be pleased to know, is likely to be reserved entirely for you."

"It is to be war between us, then," said Darcy bitterly, crossing his arms and glaring at the cat that had begun nonchalantly licking its paw. He vaguely wondered if Mary had somehow linked herself to Menace so the cat could act as chaperone in her absence.

"You said you enjoyed watching me today," Lizzy said conversationally, choosing to ignore the brewing ill will. "May I ask why?"

Frustrated at being thwarted by the cat his sister, his very own flesh and blood, had given to Elizabeth, Darcy heaved a great sigh before collapsing into a chair, utterly defeated. "There is just something about seeing you completely in control of so much that is utterly bewitching. I like that you do not back away from conflict. That you are creative. That you are bold. That you are so very comfortable under such pressure as the Quidditch Final."

"Such appreciation was not garnered in the dueling ring?" Elizabeth asked lightly.

"Oh, it certainly was," Darcy answered easily, kicking his chair back onto two legs. "Then, however, you were in control of yourself alone. To speak plainly, my love, it pleases me to see you so at ease in a position of command. You know my desires. Such a trait as you posses would be required in the woman that takes over as Mistress of Pemberley."

Courage suddenly failing her, Lizzy looked down to Menace and became incredibly interested in the way his fur flowed from one color to another.

"As I have said, Elizabeth," Darcy continued, "I will not force you, nor see you rushed. But I also will not hide my hopes, especially from you."

"What if I am never ready?" Lizzy asked quietly.

"Then I shall have to make adjustments to how I think," Darcy said.

When Lizzy did not respond, Darcy's chair legs hit the floor and he was soon leaning against the table next to her. "Can I ask what has prompted such thoughts? Is there something I have done to make you doubt yourself?" he asked lowly.

"No, you have been everything wonderful," Lizzy rushed to reassure. "I can't explain it," she said frustratedly.

"Please try," Darcy requested.

Lizzy did her best to ignore the fact that Darcy was so close to her, instead focusing on tracing Menace's spine repeatedly with her finger as she tried to sort through her thoughts. "This past year has brought so much change to my life. I don't know that I can handle much more, however pleasant that change might be."

"That I can understand well enough," Darcy said. "It is this business of perhaps _never_ being ready that I hope we can discuss."

Lizzy huffed, then shut her eyes tightly, hoping against hope that such an action would slow her raging thoughts. "I suppose," she said after several minutes, "that I have not really considered marriage and all it might mean since coming to Hogwarts." She opened her eyes, surprised at her own words which she only then recognized the truth of. "I've grown up being told that I _must_ marry. I've seen so many women marry and disappear for one reason or another. I've heard horror stories of women married for money or for their youth, treated as a possession. At Hogwarts, I realized I did not have to submit to such a fate. That I didn't want to. I suppose I've become adjusted to the idea of being a spinster, as here I can do very well for myself without being bound in marriage."

Darcy said nothing for several moments, just stared at the stone floor in front of him. "You fear I would try to control you, take your freedoms."

"It is not you I object to in the slightest," Lizzy said, becoming frustrated with her inability to make sense of anything. "It is the concept of marriage, in general, I think."

"But you do not fear for Jane entering such a state with Bingley," Darcy stated.

Lizzy started. "No, I suppose I don't."

"Then it must be me that is the problem."

Angry now, Lizzy pushed Menace off her lap, grabbed Darcy face, turned it toward her, and tried to kiss him in an effort to assure him such was not the case. He failed to respond appropriately and, after only a few seconds, pulled away and removed her hands from his face.

"You said you would not rush me or force me," Lizzy said bitterly through the tears that were beginning to cloud her vision.

"I am not trying to do either," Darcy said in a carefully controlled voice. "I am trying to understand you, Elizabeth!"

"I'm trying to do the same!" Lizzy shouted. She shoved herself off the table and started for the door. Before she could open it more than a few inches, however, it slammed shut firmly. She whirled around to see Darcy immediately behind her, his face set like stone and his arm braced against the door.

"As we are both exceedingly confused, perhaps we might arrive at a solution _together_, rather than running away," Darcy suggested. He sounded very close to his breaking point.

"I don't know what the solution might be, but I am certain it is mine to find out," Lizzy said stubbornly.

"I rather think I have a significant interest in this," Darcy countered.

"Because I have permitted it to be so," Lizzy snapped. "If my doing so has led you to the conclusion that you have any sort of _right_ to my confidences, that permission shall be terminated immediately!"

Darcy's eyes filled with such a terribly awful mix of emotions Lizzy could find no words to describe it.

"Is that what you want, Elizabeth?" Darcy whispered tightly.

On an impulse, Lizzy wanted to declare that, yes, she wanted to keep all her own confidences and never bother with Darcy again, but the very idea of cutting him so nearly brought her to tears. "No," she said smally.

Darcy sighed and hung his head in great relief. After a moment, he pushed himself upright, then held a hand out to Lizzy. "Perhaps we should sit and discuss this like civilized beings."

Lips twitching in a very slight smile, Lizzy accepted Darcy's extended hand and allowed him to seat her at the table before taking a chair, himself.

"Now, Elizabeth, I hope we can both agree that there is something bothering you immensely and, if we do not address it, it will come between us quite cruelly," Darcy said reasonably.

"The past ten minutes seem ample enough proof of the concept," Lizzy conceded.

"You say you are not sure you can explain just what is bothering you."

"Yes."

Darcy and Lizzy simply sat and studied each other for a few minutes.

Lizzy let out an irritated sigh, then made her way over to the shelf, grabbed several pieces of parchment, and brought them back over to the table. "Give me time," she said as she drew a quill from her pocket. "Let me see if I can make sense of my own ramblings."

Darcy held out his hand for a piece of parchment, which Lizzy gave him, and found a quill for himself. For the next hour, at least, they said not a word, but instead scratched away as they put their thoughts to ink.

"I'm not sure this makes much sense," Lizzy said unhappily, scrutinizing the pages before her.

"Perhaps a second opinion is in order," Darcy suggested. "May I?"

Feeling shy for her outburst, Lizzy pushed her papers over to Darcy and accepted his in turn.

By the time Lizzy got to the end of Darcy's thoughts, her face was bathed in her tears. He expressed so many hopes for their future, listed so many reasons he loved her, wrote over and over again that he wanted her to retain her independent spirit and would never knowingly do anything to dampen it. Such only increased her feeling of guilt for being unable to give him a favorable answer. They had grown so close, and she so very much enjoyed spending time with him. _Why_ was she struggling to let them move to the next logical step?

"May I keep this?" Darcy asked. When Lizzy nodded her acceptance, he carefully folded her papers and tucked them into an inner pocket of his robes. "What is on your mind now, Elizabeth?"

Lizzy released an unsteady breath. "Regret that I can't, at least not yet, give you what you so clearly want and very much deserve."

"I do not deserve anything from you, Elizabeth," Darcy said firmly, but gently. He reached his hands across the table and held them open.

Lizzy hesitated only a few moments before placing her hands in his. For all her fears, she still wanted his comfort, though she only felt wretched at accepting it. How selfish she was being!

"We are still very young," Darcy said after a few moments of rubbing circles on the back of Lizzy's hands with his thumbs. "We have both been through a great deal, have had to take on responsibilities well beyond our years. I have had more time to make peace with such things, and perhaps that is why I feel more ready for entering the marriage state than you. Perhaps all you need is time."

"But what if that's _not_ it, William?" Lizzy asked nervously. "What then?"

Darcy exhaled carefully through his nose. "Then I will have a very difficult decision to make," he said heavily.

Lizzy bit her lip. She did not have to ask what that difficult decision might be; she knew it well enough. Darcy would have to chose between his heart and continuing the line of the Darcys of Pemberley. "I wish I could," she whispered. "I truly do."

"I believe you," Darcy said soothingly. "For now, that has to be enough."

The couple simply sat for a time, hands interlocked, without exchanging a single word. Eventually, Darcy kissed Lizzy's hand and suggested her housemates might be close to sending out search parties for her, if they had not yet already, and left.

Lizzy set her head in her arms and let herself cry. Once she dragged herself back to Gryffindor Tower, she hitched a smile on her face and participated in the festivities as well as she was able.

* * *

"Alright, out with it," said Phoebe the moment the door to the dormitory had closed behind her, Josephine, and Lizzy.

"Out with what?" Lizzy asked with her best attempt at innocence.

Josephine gently pulled Lizzy down onto the bed beside her. "Lizzy, we know you were crying before you came back. Did something happen with Jane? With Darcy?"

Lizzy felt an annoying flash of jealousy at the mention of her elder sister._ Jane_ was experiencing no doubts about her relationship, or at least she had not told Lizzy so. Then again, Lizzy thought bitterly, Jane had not been telling her much of anything as of late.

"Annoyed at Jane, are you?" Phoebe asked shrewdly.

Lizzy's surprised eyes snapped to her friend.

"Jane's not the only one that's been taking her concerns to someone new recently," Phoebe patiently explained.

Lizzy grew hot in her embarrassment. "I have not been meaning to neglect you!" she burst anxiously.

"You're not neglecting us, Lizzy," Josephine soothed. "You're just not talking to us about the same things you used to."

"It's only right that you share your burdens with the person that, barring any catastrophe, will be your husband," said Phoebe without a trace of offence.

Lizzy stuttered and spluttered for several moments until catching sight of her roommates' knowing grins.

"Yes, it's that obvious that he wants you, dearie," said Josephine somewhat condescendingly.

"What's less obvious to the general population, but perfectly clear to such stellar beings as we are," said Phoebe, "is that you are absolutely terrified of letting yourself love him back as he does you."

Lizzy felt the sting of the accusation acutely, but chose to focus on that which was less threatening to exposing her core. "I am _not_ terrified, Phoebe Weasley!"

"Yes, you are," said Phoebe with an unconcerned wave of her hand. "Desperately."

"And you know it, which is why you're purposefully missing the point," said Josephine wisely.

"I have had a very long and tiring day," Lizzy tried. "Can we, perhaps, go to sleep and discuss this at a later time?"

Both Phoebe and Josephine vetoed the idea immediately.

"Listen, Lizzy, Jo and I have spent quite a bit of time talking about this," said Phoebe, drawing herself a chair and settling into it with her feet on the bed next to Lizzy. "Sometimes, other people can figure things out about you better than you can, because they have perspective. Well, we think we just might have figured it out."

"Will you listen, Lizzy, or are you determined to be stubborn and run away?" Josephine asked without judgment.

Lizzy bit her lip and nearly started crying again. The sensation frustrated her immensely. She was not usually prone to tears, and yet she had shed quite an impressive amount of them in the past several months. Relief that she had such steadfast and caring friends, however, pierced the irritation and soothed the urge. "I will listen," she said quietly.

"Wonderful!" Josephine exclaimed with a smile, then looked to Phoebe.

"We figure you're scared to let yourself love Darcy because nearly everyone else you've loved and trusted with the care of your wellbeing has disappointed you in some fashion," said Phoebe. "Your mother's psychotic, your father's indolent, and Jane's head over heels. You're irritated at Jane, sure enough, but you're also annoyed that you're irritated, which only makes matters worse."

Some part of Lizzy felt she ought to take offense, but she knew Phoebe all too well to be put off by the blunt statements, or that she could deny the truth of them.

"Mary can't take Jane's place," Josephine continued. "Sure, she can learn your every thought easily enough and keep confidences well, but not because you gave them to her, and you know the relationship would be horribly lopsided. Kitty and Lydia are too young and, thanks to failures of others, too much your responsibility to be your confidantes."

"So there goes your family," said Phoebe, still failing to put any finesse into her statements. "Charlotte might have been a good outlet for you, if not for the fact that she's a Muggle and now married to that loon Collins."

"You have us," said Josephine. As she spoke, she began taking Lizzy's hair down to braid it. "However, no matter how much we love you, and you us, we can never take the place of each other's families."

"But you could make a _new_ family with Darcy," Phoebe pointed out.

"And the thought scares you out of your wits, because you fear that, once he becomes your new family, he will disappoint you just like your other has," Josephine gently finished the explanation.

Lizzy looked ahead without truly seeing and felt horribly empty. She supposed she had recognized many parts of what her friends had told her before, but to have it told to her so factually, and to have the layer of Darcy woven in, hit her differently.

"Lizzy, we will support you no matter what you chose to do," said Josephine after several minutes. She had finished braiding Lizzy's hair.

"We just don't want you to live in fear," said Phoebe.

Knowing their friend needed time to process, Josephine and Phoebe simply congratulated Lizzy again on Gryffindor's win, bid her goodnight, and went to bed.

* * *

**Author's Note**

So remember how last chapter was just so freakin' cute? ...yeah...lol. Sorry for sucker punching you?

Anyway, I hope you and your family are doing well! Leave a review, share your thoughts.


	32. Chapter 32

"I haven't been fair to you."

Such were the first words Lizzy said to Darcy in their first private moment in a week. They were walking to Hogsmeade together, more to avoid gossip than for desire to be alone with each other.

"I could say the same," said Darcy.

"No, I don't think you could," Lizzy countered. She had been prepared to go on, but Darcy jumped in.

"I said I would not force or rush you, yet every time you resist me, I throw a marvelous fit," said Darcy agitatedly. "It is not fair for me to try to guilt you in such a fashion, and I am incredibly sorry for it. I am determined to better myself and not put you in such uncomfortable situations."

"And I am determined to have all the fault," Lizzy contradicted. She plowed on before Darcy could interrupt again. "I have demanded all I could from you. Whenever you tried to set a defense before me, I tore it down. I insisted you be completely open and honest. Yet all that time, I withheld myself from you. I have been using you as an emotional support all along, but not truly invested myself. It was abominably cruel of me to set you in such a lopsided relationship."

Darcy looked well and truly confused. "You have always been completely honest with me, Elizabeth."

Lizzy averted her gaze to study her shoes. "It has been pointed out to me that I have not been honest with _myself_. Therefore, it is impossible that I could have been honest _with you_." And Lizzy told him all about the lecture she had been given by Josephine and Phoebe.

"So you _do_ fear me," Darcy said dismally.

"I suppose so," Lizzy confessed. She pulled the thoughts he had written down the week previous from her pocket and held them up. "I so badly want to believe all of this, William. I _really_ do. But I'm afraid I won't be able to take it if it turns out to be lies."

Fury, disappointment, and despondence all flitted across Darcy's face. It took him several moments to gather his defenses and hide himself behind his apathetic mask. "What can I do to convince you otherwise?" he asked.

Lizzy felt as though someone had reached into her chest and clamped down on her heart. "I really am not sure," she admitted.

Darcy stopped and tightly shut his eyes for a significant period of time. Lizzy even began to wonder if she ought to leave him to his own thoughts and return to Hogwarts. Just as she was about to turn away, he opened his eyes and offered his arm to her, the smile on his face she had come to greatly enjoy.

"I thought you might prefer some time to yourself," Lizzy cautiously ventured.

"Nonsense," said Darcy with apparent ease. "I should much prefer taking the young woman that has agreed to court me out around town, so others might see my good fortune."

Skeptically, Lizzy took Darcy's arm and they resumed their journey.

"I cannot alleviate your fears by shutting you out, Elizabeth," was all Darcy said by way of explanation before determinedly engaging Lizzy in banal conversation.

Lizzy was relieved to entrust Darcy to Bingley's care when they came across him and Jane on the main street of Hogsmeade. She believed Darcy could be greatly benefitted by unburdening himself to a fellow man.

"I have decided I will only get myself five new sets of robes," said Jane as she wound her arm around her sister's and led her to the robemaker's, away from Bingley and Darcy.

"Five?" Lizzy asked, summoning her teasing nature as best she could. "No, surely you should have at least ten new sets! How could Bingley possibly marry a woman that _only_ gets herself five new outfits? All the other men will say he cannot afford to keep a wife well styled!"

Jane laughed at Lizzy's jest. "I will wear my gowns, mostly, over the summer," she explained, "and my school robes most of the following term. Five new sets may be too many, indeed!"

Lizzy threw herself into helping Jane choose fabrics and designs enthusiastically, desperate to be distracted from her inner turmoil.

"You are not happy, Lizzy," Jane said suddenly once the sisters were left alone in a dressing room.

Lizzy was so surprised she fumbled and dropped the bolt of cloth she had been examining.

"Please do not insult me by pretending otherwise," Jane added.

"This is hardly the place, Jane," Lizzy said, glancing around.

Jane drew her wand and flicked it several times. "There. Now we shall not be bothered."

Jane's attitude of determined calm broke the little reserve Lizzy had left and she let completely loose, even to the point of telling Jane how very angry she was that she had been replaced by Bingley in Jane's hierarchy and admitting the hypocrisy of her ire at such. Unsurprisingly, Jane had tears in her eyes by the time Lizzy finished her rant.

It was a very long time before the sisters left the dressing room, though both were satisfied upon doing so.

* * *

"How was looking at cottages with Charles?" Lizzy asked Darcy as they sat down for lunch in _The Three Broomsticks_.

"We narrowed the pool down to three cottages that are structurally sound and updated recently enough as to not look ridiculous," Darcy answered. "Had we not taken so long, Charles might have shown them to Jane today. As it is, they'll have to wait until next week. Hopefully, they'll be able to sign the lease then."

Lizzy very much wanted to ask just what had taken Darcy and Bingley so much longer than Darcy seemed to have expected, but thought it would not be fair to do so. "You did not take too much longer than Jane and I did," she said instead. "We were in Honeyduke's less than ten minutes when you arrived."

"Jane must have chosen a great many new outfits," said Darcy. He greeted the young wizard that came to serve them by name and gave his and Lizzy's customary orders before turning back to her.

"Only five," Lizzy answered. She cleared her somewhat raw throat. "We had some weighty matters to discuss."

Darcy opened his mouth to reply, then thought better of it and closed it. After a moment of thinking, he asked, "Is Jane to get most of her new clothes with Mrs. Bennet, then?"

"I told her that I'm angry with her," Lizzy burst.

Darcy straightened in surprise.

"I told her how very upset I've been that she's been confiding in Bingley instead of me, that I've felt cut out by her, even though I know I've been doing the same with her and you," Lizzy continued. "She and I had a very good talk about where we stand and where our first loyalties lie."

Darcy cleared his throat before making a reply. "Dare I ask where yours are?"

"Shifting," Lizzy answered after a moment, "from the old to the new. It's a slow process with a lot of growing pains."

Darcy smiled lightly. "Bingley and I had an enlightening discussion on patience and understanding," he said. "He possesses a much more substantial amount of both things than I do and was quite willing to advise me."

Lizzy and Darcy were much more at ease on the way back to Hogwarts than they had been on their way away from it.

* * *

"I do not _want_ to study for my exams!" Lydia whined.

"You'll be thankful in the long run," Lizzy said without sympathy.

"Sally said I could borrow her broom today so Levi could show me some Beater basics!" Lydia continued.

"Sally's broom will still exist after you've spent a couple hours revising."

"But _I_ might not," Lydia said sullenly, flicking open one of her books with a look of disgust.

Lizzy exchanged an exasperated look with Darcy beside her before turning her attention to Potions. The end of the year was a mere three weeks away, and panic about all the big exams had started to hit students at varying levels. Darcy had told Lizzy that a fifth year in Ravenclaw had gone down in a fit of anxiety already the night previous.

"Did Slughorn hint that it was the potion on page sixty-eight or eighty-six that is a particular favorite of those that make the exams for sixth years?" Lizzy asked Darcy as she flipped between the two pages.

"Perhaps it's both," Darcy said offhandedly.

Lizzy gave Darcy an annoyed sideways glance. "I know you remember."

"Why do first years have to take Astronomy?" Lydia asked dismally as she examined the chart before her.

"It's important for Potions and certain advanced spells," Darcy answered pragmatically.

Lizzy, who knew her sister much better, provided and alternate answer. "You've no hope of doing well in Divination if you can't distinguish one constellation from another."

Lydia pouted, but complained a little less from that point forward as she began tracing charts and rewriting notes under the supervision of Lizzy and Darcy.

"There, it's been a full two hours!" Lydia said triumphantly, pointing at the large clock on the wall. "Will you let me go now?"

"How many stars are in Orion's Belt?" Lizzy asked without looking up from the Charms article before her.

"Three," Lydia answered immediately.

"Be sure to listen carefully to what Sally says to take care of her broom," Lizzy said, still without raising her eyes.

Lydia was already walking away before Lizzy had finished her instructions, though she called a promise to heed them over her shoulder.

"So Lydia plans to take Divination, does she?" Darcy asked, leaning back in his chair and running his hands through his hair.

Lizzy threw her quill down and rubbed her eyes. Normally, she and Darcy would take a break from studying approximately every fifteen minutes. They had learned that they could not do so when they took Lydia with them, as the young girl somehow managed to frequently double the length of each break so that more time was spent in idle chatter than in academic productivity. "She thinks that _someone_ in the family must be a Seer. Mary and I know the subject to be utter nonsense, so never took it. Jane quit after a year."

Darcy shrugged. "True Seers do exist. Perhaps we will be surprised."

"If there are any Seers here at Hogwarts, they'll be driven away from acknowledging the fact when they see the spectacle Professor Trelawney makes of herself," said Lizzy scathingly.

"I thought you had never dealt with the woman?" Darcy asked a little too lightly.

"I went with Jane once to her office," said Lizzy. "Trelawney took it upon herself to read a crystal ball for me and said I would end up homeless, bitter, and ugly before ten years past."

"And how did you reply?" Darcy asked, very clearly trying to keep himself from laughing.

"Details are not important," said the familiar voice of Flitwick. "The fact that Miss Elizabeth spent the next week in detention is information enough."

Lizzy looked at Flitwick unamusedly while Darcy's eyes lit up with the pleasure of having been given ammunition with which to tease her.

"How can we help you today, Professor Flitwick?" Lizzy asked with decidedly forced politeness.

Flitwick was not fooled by Lizzy's attempt at anger, and so only smiled wider before providing an answer. "Please go back to your rooms and change. We have been asked to go to the Ministry."

"For what, Professor?" Lizzy asked, even as she started ordering all the books, papers, and quills around her.

"You leave to represent your country in twenty days," said Flitwick. "The Ministry wants to make sure you have everything you need to represent well."

"You mean they want to make sure we will not disgrace them while abroad," Lizzy said shrewdly.

"More or less," Flitwick conceded.

Twenty minutes later, Lizzy stood in Flitwick's office dressed in her best set of robes. Darcy had beaten her and looked very well draped in dark blue with accents of brilliant white. She noted the quality of his dress and began to feel self-conscious in the second-hand robes she had been wearing for two years.

Lizzy's feelings of inadequacy increased after coming out of the grate into the Ministry lobby. All around her were witches and wizards in sharp robes with clean, well-kept boots.

"You look very well, Elizabeth," said Darcy quietly after watching her nervously look over a passing witch.

"How can I expect people to believe I am one of England's champions when I look as though – "

"You earned your place due to your skill, Elizabeth, not because of your outfit," said Darcy firmly. "Besides, I already said you look very well, and I should hope my opinion means more to you than those of strangers that do not value you nearly so well as I do."

Lizzy smiled at Darcy's tease, and doing so relieved her of some tension.

Flitwick finally led them into a room. Lizzy and Darcy were unsurprised to see Josiah Ridgeway and Sophia Capulet. They all greeted each other pleasantly and chatted amicably for several minutes until the Minister himself walked in.

"What a pleasure to be able to send such a gifted group of young men and women to represent us," said Fudge boisterously after introducing himself personally to each champion.

"I don't think I overstep when I say it is an honor for us to be in such a position, sir," said Josiah with heavy sincerity.

Lizzy, Darcy, and Sophia nodded their agreement, drawing another pleased exclamation from Fudge.

"Well, you must be wondering why I've asked you all to be here," said Fudge. He gestured to a long rectangular table and waited for everyone else to be seated before taking his place at the head. "There's a lot of work to be done to prepare you for this competition, and not a lot of time in which to accomplish it." Fudge went on to list a great many things that needed to be seen to, including fitting the champions for proper attire, settling on traveling accommodations, coming up with and practicing an exhibition for the opening ceremonies, explanations of proper and expected behavior, and so many others.

Had Lizzy been at Hogwarts and seated in front of Flitwick instead of at the Ministry before Fudge, she would have started rubbing her temples in annoyance. She did not like all the pomp and circumstance Fudge was alluding to. She only wanted to display her own skill and observe, perhaps even learn, the practices of others.

"Miss Capulet, Miss Bennet, assuming you are amendable, I have secured Mrs. Felicia Daelyn as your coach," said Fudge.

Lizzy agreed immediately because she liked Felicia. Sophia agreed because she knew what a force to be reckoned with Felicia was.

"Excellent," said Fudge, rubbing his hands together. He flicked his wand at the door and, a moment later, someone Lizzy recognized as having been in their final year at Hogwarts her first year came through it.

"Yes, sir?" said the newcomer.

"Please escort Miss Capulet and Miss Bennet to Mrs. Daelyn," said Fudge.

"Minister, I hope you remember that Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy must be returning to Hogwarts by nine o'clock," Flitwick piped up. "They do still have classes tomorrow."

Fudge assured Flitwick that Lizzy would be returned to him in a timely fashion, then waved the girls off to follow his assistant.

Lizzy drew Sophia into simple conversation as they wound through the halls of the Ministry. Lizzy thought her fellow champion was a little reticent and more reserved than she, but decided they would get along well enough.

"There are my protégées!" Felicia exclaimed once Lizzy and Sophia were through the door. All three exchanged pleasantries with varying levels of excitement before Felicia launched into an explanation. "If you're anything like me, you could hardly care less what you wear into the ring so long as it covers you and stays out of the way," said Felicia. "Unfortunately, we have to deal with some pageantry."

Lizzy's appreciation for Felicia was only growing. Sophia shrugged in response to the speech as if she did not necessarily mind the pageantry.

"Come with me, girls," said Felicia, turning towards a door on the opposing wall. "I've worked with Madam Malkin extensively on some new designs. You two will be the first to wear them."

When Felicia opened what turned out to be a very large closet, Lizzy felt her jaw drop. Dozens of beautifully elaborate, yet not ostentatious, dueling robes were before her. True to Felicia's claim, they were of a different design than Lizzy had seen before. Each set consisted of what seemed almost to be a gown that was removeable for an outer layer, a long shirt cinched with a belt at the waist, and form-fitting pants. The robes Lizzy had been using still had a full skirt over pants, though the skirt had long slits along the sides to allow for more movement. She had gotten caught up in the skirts a time or two and was happy this new design would not hinder her so.

"Won't these rip as we move?" Sophia asked concernedly as she examined a pair of pants. "They are a very close-fitting cut, are they not?"

"Do you think that _I_, of all people, would recommend an outfit to you that would fall apart under a slight bit of pressure, Miss Capulet?" Felicia asked blandly.

Sophia's response was to blush and devote more of her attention to examining the robes.

"This outer layer you ought to keep on until you are about to enter the ring," said Felicia, taking one in her hands to better show some detail. "When it's all set correctly, it looks almost as a fashionable Muggle gown. Perhaps with some more tweaking of the design, we witches can wear a proper set of robes wherever we choose without offending the Muggles, eh?"

Lizzy laughed at the idea that she might wear robes into Longbourn and be complimented for her style by Mrs. Bennet.

"Well, Miss Bennet, I think you ought to try on that forest green there," said Felicia. "And Miss Capulet, the powder blue might do nicely."

Once Lizzy was fully dressed in the new design, she delighted in exploring its functionality. She was able to move with absolute freedom and felt certain she would be able to stash any number of things on her person without arousing suspicion thanks to the flowing outer layer.

"Yes, that'll do nicely," said Felicia after observing Lizzy in the first set of robes. "Hold still for a moment there, Bennet, let me mark up what adjustments need to be made for you."

With the flick of her wand, Felicia had set white marks where fabric needed to be taken in or loosened to better fit Lizzy, then instructed her charge to try another set.

As they tried set after set of robes, Lizzy and Sophia became more comfortable with each other, honestly letting each other know whether a particular color or cut was flattering or not, though both respected Felicia's authority as the final say.

"I don't particularly care if you think a deeper neckline would make Bennet look more 'ethereal,' Capulet," said Felicia after Sophia had made such a suggestion. "I'll not have men gawking over either of you for what you're wearing. Let them gawk for your skill in the ring. You're not out to find husbands at this competition!"

Felicia had a similar harsh response when Lizzy suggested what Sophia was wearing at the time might look better with long sleeves. "Long sleeves restrict," said Felicia. "Besides that, once you start getting closer to India, you'll be thankful to have as short of sleeves as possible."

By the time Lizzy had to leave, Felicia had declared seven sets appropriate for her and promised to get them altered, as well as have a few more made up in similar color schemes and designs.

"Will we get to keep these, Mrs. Daelyn?" Sophia asked excitedly.

"Of course," said Felicia. "You're launching the styles to the public, after all."

Lizzy felt a knot form in her stomach and contrived a way to speak to Felicia so Sophia would not hear. "Mrs. Daelyn, I do not think I can afford to pay Madam Malkin for – "

"This is all on the Ministry's galleon, Bennet," said Felicia with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Even if it wasn't expected of the Ministry to shell out some coin for this endeavor, Fudge is such a vain man he would provide the funds anyway, lest those under his power be seen as inferior. Enjoy the special treatment, Bennet, rather than fight it. Now be gone with you."

Lizzy followed a Ministry employee back to the room where she had first been. Josiah had already left. Flitwick and Darcy were waiting. They wasted little time before getting to a fireplace and returning to Flitwick's office.

"What were you subjected to, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked, rolling his neck as he escorted Lizzy back to Gryffindor Tower.

Lizzy enjoyed telling Darcy about the new robes. "I am not generally one to gush over fashions, but these were truly wonderful creations," Lizzy said as her explanation drew to a close. "I look forward to being able to call them mine."

"I look forward to seeing them," said Darcy.

"And what were you up to with Mr. Ridgeway and Professor Flitwick?" Lizzy asked.

"Much the same as you," Darcy sighed, "though I think you had the better bargain. Minister Fudge insisted on attending us for part of the time. I should not speak ill of the Minister, I know, but…."

"But?" Lizzy prodded after Darcy trailed off, delight dancing in her eyes.

"If it weren't for the position he holds, I am convinced Fudge would be quite the dandy," Darcy said quickly. "He certainly insisted Ridgeway and I be made to look like dandies, ourselves!"

Lizzy pressed her lips together and swallowed the laugh that threatened to burst forth. "Oh?" she asked lightly.

"Thankfully, Flitwick discarded all the selections Fudge made immediately after the Minister left," said Darcy.

"What a pity," Lizzy pouted. "I should have liked to see you in some bright colors or loud designs, I think."

Darcy looked down at Lizzy with wide eyes. Seeing the tease glittering in her eyes, he assembled his mask and said in retaliation, "If you make such a suggestion to Flitwick, or tell Fudge that his considerations were abandoned, I shall never forgive you, Miss Bennet."

"I remember you once saying you would never suspend any pleasure of mine," Lizzy challenged.

Darcy stopped in the middle of the hallway and held Lizzy's eyes with his own. "Your teasing will be my undoing, Elizabeth Bennet."

"The argument could be made that you could stand being loosened up a bit, Mr. Darcy," Lizzy quipped.

"Elizabeth, may I kiss you?"

Lizzy felt her breath hitch. She and Darcy had not done more than hold hands since their argument nearly two weeks prior. She searched her thoughts. Could she let herself indulge in a kiss if she was not ready to follow through on what such an action might mean? Could she do that to Darcy?

The answer came quite clearly and suddenly: yes, she was ready to kiss Darcy. And not just because she wanted to, but because she truly believed she was making progress toward being able to accept his full suit, though she knew she would still need time.

As Lizzy pondered, Darcy's face fell. He turned and made to begin moving forward again, but Lizzy quickly grabbed his arm and wheeled him around to face her before planting a kiss on his lips. It was not a long period of contact, but it was enough to reassure him. She had considered a deeper kiss, but was conscious of the mandrake leaf that had been her tongue's constant companion since their fight. In order to provide something else for her mind to focus on, she had started the required month of keeping the leaf in her mouth.

"If new dueling robes put you in such a state, I shall be sure to get you some every week, at least," Darcy contentedly sighed as he rested his forehead on Lizzy's.

* * *

"If we have to go to the Ministry again tonight, I will become excessively cross," Darcy growled as he and Lizzy made their way to Hogsmeade. They might as well have standing appointments at the Ministry, as they had been summoned there every night that week and no end was yet in sight.

"I would like a night in to study," Lizzy said by way of agreement.

Darcy muttered something to the effect of desiring a night away from Minister Fudge under his breath, and Lizzy did him the courtesy of ignoring the comment.

"Will you and Jane be able to be civil to each other, do you think?" Darcy asked concernedly as they reached Hogsmeade's main street.

Lizzy flattened her lips as she thought. "Jane will always be civil. It's me that must watch her mouth. I am determined not to cause Jane any further pain. I have expressed my concerns to her, she has addressed them, and we are working toward a new understanding."

Darcy nodded slowly. He and Lizzy spoke of less weighty matters as they waited near the robemaker's for Jane and Bingley.

Jane apologized profusely for being late when she and Bingley arrived. "Kitty felt ill this morning," she explained. "All is well now, however, and my friend Nora has agreed to check on Kitty while I am out."

Bingley and Darcy went off their own way while the Bennet sisters went inside the robemaker's shop for the final fitting of Jane's new outfits. Their conversation was not necessarily easy, but it was civil and became less rigid as time went on. Lizzy found herself suddenly grateful for all the time she had spent at the Ministry the week previous. It had given her and Jane time to think before spending another extended period of time together.

Jane had just given final approval on the last of her new robes when Permelia Abbot came into the shop.

"Kitty's lost what she managed to get down for breakfast, poor dear," Permelia told Jane. "She's asking for you."

Lizzy ordered Jane to leave and tend Kitty immediately, promising to see to the final details of the robes.

Lizzy had already settled accounts on Jane's robes and had just finished haggling over the price of a shawl she thought her sister might like when the shop's bell rang, indicating a new arrival.

"Do not presume to speak to me!" said disdainfully haughty voice. "Where is that fortune-hunting upstart?"

Lizzy had started to feel immense pity for the poor shopworker when her mind suddenly jarred for recognizing exactly who the voice belonged to and what its owner must be about.

Lady Catherine had found out about her and Darcy.

Lizzy hurriedly dug out the proper amount of money from her reticule, snatched up her packages, and had nearly sneaked around the back of a display before hearing an imperious boom demand she stop immediately. Refusing to back down from the challenge, now that the proverbial gauntlet had been thrown, Lizzy squared her shoulders as she faced Lady Catherine.

"Just who do you think you are?" Lady Catherine demanded to start off. The next several minutes saw Lizzy insulted for her parents, her sisters, the entail on her family estate, her genteel poverty, the fact that she had not been sent to Beauxbatons, her impertinent nature, and, most horrifying of all, her refusal of what was "a most sensible and appropriate" offer of marriage from Mr. Collins.

"I am sorry my existence offends you so very much, my lady," Lizzy said with a lightness she did not feel. "Had I any control over my circumstances, I assure you I would not rest until I met your expectations!"

"I will not be spoken to with such caprice, Miss Bennet!" Lady Catherine barked. "It is not your existence that is so offensive, but your shameless pursuit of a man that is above you in _every_ way! If you had any sense, you would not quit the sphere in which you were raised up!"

"I am a gentlemen's daughter and a witch, Lady Catherine," Lizzy retorted, "and therefore equal to your nephew!"

"You will cease your association with him immediately!" Lady Catherine decided, thoroughly red in the face. "Your alliance would be a disgrace! What is more, it can never take place, for he is engaged to my daughter! What have you to say to that?"

"Only that, as your nephew is an honorable man, I cannot lend your statement any credence, for he surely would not enter a courtship with another woman if he were betrothed to Miss de Bourgh," Lizzy answered. She felt her fists shaking at her sides.

"_You_ have made him forget himself!"

Lizzy bit her tongue so hard she was sure it would start bleeding. She could think of any number of things with which to reply to such an audacious statement, but figured she had said enough to upset Lady Catherine already. She did not want to be any more a source of contention between Darcy and his family than was necessary.

Lady Catherine started another tangent. At the end, she harshly asked Lizzy, "Are you engaged to him?"

"I am not," Lizzy answered reluctantly. She would have much preferred to simply walk away from the horrid woman, but held little doubt that Lady Catherine would follow her out into the street to continue her tirade.

"And will you promise me never to become so?" Lady Catherine asked after a moment of basking in Lizzy's denial.

Fury Lizzy had not anticipated seared her insides. How _dare_ this woman attempt to bind her future with such a promise? It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"I do not make a practice of allowing my future happiness to be dictated by persons so wholly unconnected to me," Lizzy snarled. "Whatever might happen with Mr. Darcy and me will be determined by us alone! You have given me your opinions quite freely, Lady Catherine, and must therefore consider your goal accomplished. I will leave you now and return to Hogwarts!"

Lizzy turned on her heel, determined to do just that. She would go directly to Professor McGonagall's office to seek shelter. Even if Lady Catherine managed to get on the grounds, she would certainly not be allowed into McGonagall's sanctuary after Lizzy told her professor what had happened.

"Not so hasty!" Lady Catherine said loudly, beginning to follow Lizzy's footsteps. "I am not finished with you yet, Miss Elizabeth Bennet!"

"Indeed, you are, Madam."

Lizzy collided with Darcy as he stepped out from behind a shelf. He righted her quickly, then pinned her protectively to his side with his arm.

"Nephew, thank Merlin!" cried Lady Catherine. "Now this can all be set to rights. You will leave this Mudblood immediately and come take your place at Anne's side."

Lizzy did not think it was possible, but she tensed further as she saw furious fire in Darcy's eyes. "It is nothing, William," she tried to say soothingly. Further attempts at quelling his anger were cut off when he looked at her with harsh resolution.

"I am not now, nor will I ever be, engaged to Anne," Darcy said coldly. "Were you to bother speaking with your daughter on the subject, you would know she shares such sentiments."

"Nonsense!" Lady Catherine burst.

Darcy completely ignored his aunt's objection. "You will leave now, Lady Catherine. I care not where you go, so long as you are removed from Miss Bennet's presence. You have made quite the spectacle of yourself today, and I am done speaking with you."

Darcy had turned with Elizabeth, but Lady Catherine was not through.

"I will not allow you to pollute the shades of Pemberley and the memory of my beloved sister by allying yourself to such a street urchin as _her_!" Lady Catherine shouted.

Darcy wheeled around and left Elizabeth's side so he could set himself mere inches from his aunt's face. "Do not insult my mother's memory by presuming to know what her opinions might have been," he said dangerously. "You do not care for her memory, only for yourself.

"If I _ever_ hear you speak in such a manner of my beloved again," he continued in a barely audible voice after leaning menacingly close, "I will irrevocably cut you and happily let Rosings collapse under your over bearing and over spending. Good day, Lady Catherine."

Darcy did not pause in his progression toward the door, though he did grab Elizabeth's hand to make sure she came with him. He kept his mouth clamped shut as he moved without a destination in mind. He only wanted to get as far away from Lady Catherine as possible.

"William, you have to stop!"

At Elizabeth's insistence, Darcy ceased his furious progression. He had led them to a field outside Hogsmeade. His breathing was labored and his heart rammed painfully against his chest.

"How long were you there?" Elizabeth asked.

"Long enough," Darcy said shortly. Truth told, he had been there since the close of Lady Catherine's first rant. The woman had first tried to gain access to Hogwarts and been refused entry. Silas witnessed the fit Lady Catherine threw upon being turned away by Professor Sprout and, understanding better than most how difficult such a relation could be, hastened to Hogsmeade to find and warn Darcy.

Through the several agonizing minutes that passed between his arrival and his confrontation with Lady Catherine, Darcy had maintained a white-knuckled grip on some unfortunate shelving and bitten his tongue. Elizabeth had to face Lady Catherine and attempt to shut the woman down before he interfered. It was only right that Elizabeth be allowed to defend herself, first. Anyone with even a shred more sense than Lady Catherine would have taken Elizabeth's rebukes and retreated to lick their wounds, but Lady Catherine was not known for acting with prudence. He had only let himself intervene when Lady Catherine had made to interfere with Elizabeth's escape.

Gentle hands grabbed Darcy's face and turned it toward his beloved's.

"I am not unaffected by Lady Catherine," Elizabeth said softly, "but her actions are her own and I do not hold them against you in the slightest."

"You are too good," Darcy said, closing his eyes to avoid the raw emotion Elizabeth showed. "I did not handle the situation appropriately. I should have told Lady Catherine, myself. Such would have enabled me to bear the brunt of her rage and spare you this pain."

"Look at me."

Darcy shook his head. He did not want to see anymore hurt in his beloved's features.

"Look at me!" Elizabeth loudly insisted.

Slowly and with great anxiety, Darcy opened his eyes. He had little else to look at besides Elizabeth. Behind her was only open field, and she still held his head to prevent him turning away.

"I _forbid_ you from feeling guilt in this matter," Elizabeth said resolutely. "Do you understand me, sir?"

Darcy broke and enveloped his beloved in his arms. As he held her, peace that had been evading him since their argument the day of the Quidditch Final settled. Here was his Elizabeth, comforting _him_ when it was _her_ that ought to be receiving sympathy. She had been cruelly attacked, and yet she was only worried for how he would respond. He dug his fingers into her back in attempts to draw her closer to himself.

Darcy's revelations continued. Elizabeth's emotions often ran ahead of her logic, causing the two to war with each other. Her most recent actions inspired great hope in him. She had referred to her future in the plural with Darcy. Refused to say she would not marry him, and Darcy knew all too well she would have no hesitations in stating her aversion to such, if she possessed any. Put his mental well-being above her own. Yes, Elizabeth said with her words that she was not sure she would be able to formally bind their lives together, but her actions, which often indicated the true state of her mind more accurately, said differently.

"Do you feel better now, William?" Elizabeth asked after several minutes.

"Very much so," Darcy said lowly. He proceeded to prove such to Elizabeth by kissing her quite tenderly and thoroughly.

"What was that?" Darcy asked sometime later, after regaining control of his pulse. "In your mouth?"

Elizabeth suddenly looked horrified and her face went red to the roots of her hair. "I have to see McGonagall."

"Well that's an odd thought to have after sharing such a moment," Darcy commented with a chuckle. He loved the way Elizabeth's mind worked, even if it sometimes frustrated him.

"It was my mandrake leaf," said Elizabeth. "Oh, I hope I don't have to start over!"

Darcy threw his head back as he laughed.

"I'm glad you are so amused," Elizabeth said petulantly.

"Well, the leaf did not leave your mouth, so I would think you would not have to start its month's long confinement again," Darcy supposed.

If possible, Elizabeth's blush deepened even more. "Yes, but now it has been exposed to – to – "

Darcy set his forehead to Elizabeth's as another chuckle rumbled through his chest. "Would you like me to go see McGonagall with you?"

"_No!_" Elizabeth answered emphatically.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Let's not lie - I really like the whole mandrake leaf dilemma that arose in that last little bit there. ;P

Time's just a concept. An illusion. It's not real. I totally updated exactly when I was supposed to. -scratches head and looks away uncomfortably-

Please share your thoughts!


	33. Chapter 33

"You'll start reciting the incantation immediately," said McGonagall during Lizzy's last scheduled private lesson of the term.

Lizzy, with as much grace as she could manage, spit her mandrake leaf into a phial and handed it to McGonagall. She had been quite relieved when, after stumbling through an explanation of why she thought she might have to start over with the leaf, McGonagall had said she believed restarting was not necessary. If the professor had an amused gleam in her eyes and had to press her lips tightly together after saying as much, it was not mentioned by either of them.

"Should I not wait until after I return from the competition?" Lizzy asked.

"Have I managed to develop a stutter without being aware?" McGonagall asked archly as she corked the phial and set it on her desk. She would bring it to Professor Slughorn after the lesson, and he would add it to the Animagus potion she had asked him to brew.

"No, Professor," Lizzy answered quickly. "But I confess I would rather begin this next phase when I am in closer proximity to you, in the event I have questions or something goes awry."

"It is lucky for you, then, that I will be accompanying you to India," said McGonagall off handedly.

"You will?" Lizzy asked excitedly. She greatly admired McGonagall and would not at all mind the extra guidance.

"Mrs. Daelyn has discovered she is with child," McGonagall explained. "She is determined to still go to act as coach to you and Miss Capulet, but says she is frightfully ill most mornings and advised someone else be brought along to fill in if she finds herself indisposed. Though I have never seriously competed, I am competent enough."

Lizzy smirked at her professor. Such would certainly land her in trouble in class, but she had more flexibility in her private lessons. "Might I ask how you came by the opportunity, Professor?"

McGonagall returned Lizzy's smirk. "Professor Flitwick mentioned the dilemma to me and I suggested a solution that might be agreeable to all."

"Are you sure you are up to the task of keeping me in line for a few more weeks?" Lizzy asked.

"I think I just might manage," McGonagall replied dryly. "I have to check up on how Professor Flitwick has seen to your improvements since the last time I saw you demonstrate, in any case."

Lizzy and McGonagall spoke of the competition for a few more minutes before Lizzy recited the Animagus incantation for the first time under her mentor's careful observation.

Upon finishing her lesson, Lizzy made her way to the library where Darcy was waiting for her.

"Is it done?" Darcy asked without looking up from his book.

"Yes, finally," Lizzy sighed. She swallowed then and enjoyed the fact that she did not have to be concerned for accidentally consuming her mandrake leaf.

"Excellent," said Darcy. He shoved his book aside and made quick work of attaching his lips to Elizabeth's. Despite McGonagall's assurances, Elizabeth had been unwilling to take any chances after the scare in Hogsmeade, and so he had been denied the pleasure of kissing her for a further two weeks. Such had been quite torturous, considering the revelations he had come to last time.

"You really _are_ a wolf," Elizabeth jokingly scolded. She blushed prettily as she dedicated an inordinate amount of attention to unpacking her bag.

"As said, only when it comes to you," Darcy said almost casually.

"You have your Arithmancy exam tomorrow, do you not?" Elizabeth asked.

"You know full well that I do," said Darcy. "Have you nothing else to say about your lesson? You are usually quite verbose. Have I distracted you?" he asked with a suggestive quirk of his eyebrow.

"Only because you surprised me," said Elizabeth flatly.

Darcy's second brow joined his first in rising toward his hairline. "Are you saying I was not thorough enough? Such must be rectified immediately!"

Elizabeth skirted Darcy's attempts to catch her in his arms and quickly set herself on the opposite end of the table. "_You_ need to study for Arithmancy, and _I _need to prepare for History of Magic!" she said, resolutely unfurling a scroll of notes.

Darcy laughed, but realized in the privacy of his thoughts that Elizabeth relocating across the table was in the best interest of them both. "Truly," he said after sobering somewhat, "how was your lesson with McGonagall?"

"It went very well," Elizabeth answered. "I will have the potion in my possession before we leave for India and will be saying the incantation every morning until I transform."

Darcy furrowed his brows in confusion. "I thought you wanted to wait to take those next steps until we returned."

Elizabeth smirked at Darcy. "Mrs. Daelyn may be indisposed for parts of the trip. Professor McGonagall is coming along to fill in when necessary."

Darcy groaned and threw his weight back in his chair. Ever since Elizabeth had told McGonagall of what had passed between them in Hogsmeade, the professor had been rather harsher with and more demanding of Darcy than her other students. He was not the only one to notice that the professor most noted for her just and equal treatment of students had singled him out as needing extra discipline, but he was not about to explain to his classmates _why_ Professor McGonagall had done so, and she knew it, which only gave her all the more power.

"_Why_ did it have to be her?" he asked dismally.

"Have you some reason to be upset with Professor McGonagall, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth asked lightly.

"She is determined to make me miserable," Darcy pouted. "Or have you forgotten the twenty points she managed to find flimsy reasons to take from me only two days ago?"

"Well, it was abominably rude of you to fail to hold the door for Jo as well as for me," Elizabeth said, somehow managing to sound reasonable. "And I cannot approve of your book dropping off the desk in the middle of McGonagall's lecture."

"My book fell," said Darcy irritably, "because you pushed it."

"Details," Elizabeth said dismissively.

"Oh, just you wait, Elizabeth Bennet," Darcy said darkly. "One day, I'll make you answer for all your merciless teasing."

Elizabeth only laughed at the idea before determinedly focusing on her notes.

* * *

"You are sure you have everything you'll need?" Jane asked worriedly. She had come down to the entrance hall to see her sister and Darcy off. Exams finished just that day and the students would start heading for their homes on the morrow. "I can stuff what I absolutely need into Kitty's trunk, leave the rest here, and you can take mine to put anything else in it that you might need."

"Jane, I shall be perfectly fine," Lizzy said with an affectionate pat of her sister's cheek. In the past month, the pair had succeeded in coming to a new understanding, with both of them aware of the terms of such. They would never be quite as close as they once were, since Jane, especially, had a new partner in life. Such did not mean that they no longer loved each other, nor that one could not depend on the other. Each now had clear expectations of the other and knew what was expected of them, in turn.

"You will make sure she does not overly tax herself?" Jane asked of Felicia, who had come to the grounds to collect Lizzy and Darcy.

"She will be well taken care of, Miss Bennet," Felicia soothed.

"Well, Lizzy, I wish you the very best of luck," said Bingley, offering his hand. "Remember details well, for I shall be exceedingly interested to hear them upon your return! I can't count on Darcy to give a faithful accounting at all."

"I will do my very best," Lizzy laughingly answered. "It would not do to disappoint my future brother so!"

"Bingley can do with some disappointment, Elizabeth," said Darcy drily. "Feel no obligation to oblige him."

"At least _try_ to get him to enjoy himself," said Bingley to Lizzy at a stage whisper, causing his friend to roll his eyes good naturedly.

"Oh, I should like to travel to some far-off land," Lydia said wistfully. "Perhaps you _should_ take Jane's trunk, Lizzy. Then I can stow away in it."

"I most certainly will not be taking _you_ anywhere," said Lizzy. "Not until you can remember the proper charm for use of chopping fruit, anyway."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "It was just a tiny mistake in spelling, Lizzy!" she whined. "Must you bring it up at every opportunity?"

"That may be so, but if you had actually _used_ the charm you'd written on your exam, you would likely have sent the knife you were working with into the chest of the person nearest you," said Lizzy evenly.

"Will you bring us something back, Lizzy?" Kitty asked eagerly. "I've heard such interesting things about the fashions in India."

"Of course I shall bring you something back, Kitty," Lizzy easily answered. "When I shall give it to you is another matter, entirely. You'd better be on your best behavior, as receiving your gift just might be entirely dependent on the report Mary gives me once I return."

Mary smirked at Lizzy while Kitty and Lydia looked horrified. She knew full well that Lizzy intended to give her youngest sisters some trinket or other regardless of their behavior, but the threat would likely prove very effective and gave Mary a great deal of power over the youngest Bennets.

"Final goodbyes," said Felicia. "Come along, now! We can't keep the others waiting."

Lizzy hugged each of her sisters fiercely and shook Bingley's hand again before making her way to the door with Felicia. Darcy shook hands with Jane, Mary, and Bingley, and the latter also clapped him impressively on the back. He patted Kitty and Lydia somewhat awkwardly on the head, but the gesture was appreciated.

"Are we to pick up Josiah and Sophia, also?" Lizzy asked after climbing into the large thestral drawn carriage with Felicia and Darcy.

"Flitwick and McGonagall set out to meet them a few hours ago," said Felicia. "You would have gone with them, if not for your Defense exams being so ridiculously late. We will all gather in London, and then the four of you will take one carriage while I get into the other with the professors."

"We are to be trusted with being unsupervised?" Lizzy asked teasingly. "Are you sure that is a wise decision? We just might steal the Ministry carriage and ride off, never to be heard from again!"

"Oh?" Felicia asked lightly. "Would you prefer we all cram into one carriage?"

"Certainly not," said Darcy flatly.

Lizzy stifled a laugh. She knew Darcy simply did not want to be shut in with McGonagall for hours on end.

"When we stop to meet up with the other champions, you will both change into your Ministry robes," said Felicia, beginning to settle into the squabs. "Ridgeway and Capulet will do the same."

"Must we wear them the entire trip?" Lizzy asked unenthusiastically. The purple robes with green accents and the Ministry seal printed near the left shoulder were, by far, her least favorite.

"I've made sure you have three sets, so you'll not smell _too_ terribly," Felicia quipped.

"That is not the issue I have," Lizzy half mumbled.

Felicia's eyes danced with amusement. "Yes, Bennet, you _must_ wear the Ministry robes while we travel. I told you there'd be pageantry involved. Everyone we come across must see that you are out to represent your country."

Soon, Felicia declared her intention to take a nap, leaving Lizzy and Darcy completely to their own devices. The pair chatted for a while, then pulled out books on magical anthropology that had been recommended to them, frequently sharing observations.

When the carriage landed in London after a shorter time than Lizzy expected, she hopped out and cheerfully greeted Josiah and Sophia.

Flitwick brought out a small chest which when opened revealed the Ministry robes the champions were to wear for the duration of their journey. Lizzy and Sophia exchanged an unenthused look, but took their sets, nonetheless, and followed their coaches into the Ministry itself. They were immediately shunted into rooms to change.

"These are completely ridiculous," said Sophia flatly as she looked at herself in the mirror. "At least the ones Mrs. Daelyn designed for us will not be so embarrassing to be seen in."

Lizzy sighed and nodded her head in agreement. "We will simply have to suffer together, Sophia, and be content with the knowledge that we are not alone." She suddenly brightened dramatically. "Shall we go see the spectacle that must be Darcy and Josiah?"

Sophia eagerly agreed, and the pair scurried out of their room.

Upon sighting Darcy in the gaudy purple and horribly clashing green, Lizzy had to fight very hard not to burst out laughing. So much for not looking like a dandy!

"Those robes turned out very well!" Fudge said delightedly when the champions were presented to him. "Very well indeed!"

Lizzy very nearly snorted despite the fact that she was a focal point at a very formal gathering of Ministry employees. They were to be seen off in style.

The champions were seated on a raised platform, then Fudge proceeded to give a very long-winded speech of how proud they should be to participate in such a competition and, in turn, how proud he was to have them represent England. Lizzy listened politely, but gave no credence to a single word said by the Minister. After all, he had not seen any of them duel, so how could he possibly know they would do England any credit?

Unfortunately, Fudge's speech proved to be just about the most tolerable thing about the evening. It kicked off a very elaborate ball.

"At least we were permitted to open with each other," Lizzy said to Darcy during the first dance. He looked every bit as surly and disagreeable as he had when she had first seen him at the Meryton assembly.

Darcy grunted in agreement.

"I know you are not looking forward to the evening, Darcy, but could you perhaps stir yourself to _at least_ be pleasant through this set?" Lizzy asked. "It is likely to be the highlight for us, in any event."

Darcy recognized the truth of Lizzy's words quickly enough and proceeded to, for the rest of the set, behave as though they were dancing casually at Madam Puddifoot's. The levity and joy they found in each other, however, was quickly crushed once the set finished. In fact, they were hardly able to so much as glance at each other the rest of the ball.

Even Lizzy, as outgoing as she was, felt remarkably irritated by the time she was permitted to climb back into the carriage. She had not been allowed a single set out to rest. Her feet ached and her cheeks were sore from forcing herself to smile so much. Her only genuine smile had happened when Lord Matlock found her after her dance with the Minister.

"A little tired, are you, Miss Bennet?" Matlock had asked.

"I have only just finished my exams, my lord," Lizzy had replied gaily.

"And here I was thinking you found the company trying."

"Not presently, at least."

Matlock had laughed at Lizzy's wit and offered to scare off any persons she thought to be enormously annoying. Tempted though she was, Lizzy had declined the offer and faced her fate.

Once the ball was over, the champions piled into their carriage. Sophia fell into the seat beside Lizzy, forcing Darcy to sit opposite her, instead. He looked decidedly put out by such.

"Would you all be terribly offended if I took off my slippers?" Sophia asked as the carriage took to the sky. "I can hardly feel my toes."

"I think it a fine suggestion for us all," said Josiah tiredly. "Who is going to scold us for it, anyway?"

Lizzy gave a weak chuckle. She had just been preparing to reach down to remove her shoes when, instead, Darcy grabbed her feet and pulled the slippers off, himself, before settling her feet on the bench between him and the carriage wall. She smiled appreciatively at him as he then tended his own footwear.

All four champions were so very exhausted they hardly did more than say goodnight before contorting themselves into strange shapes to settle to sleep as best as they possibly could in the unyielding carriage.

* * *

"Are you happy, my dear?" Darcy asked lowly.

The carriages had stopped in Vienna to give the passengers a well-earned break from the confines. Darcy had been quick to suggest finding somewhere to eat that afforded a good view of the city. Felicia was able to recommend a place thanks to the many stories her well-travelled husband had told her. It took nearly an hour to walk to their destination, but no one was ready to complain after spending a full day and a half in the carriage.

"It is all so very beautiful and fascinating," Elizabeth said breathlessly, taking in the view from their table.

Darcy agreed whole heartedly, though his eyes were focused on what was, to him, even more agreeable than the scenery. "Should you like to come back here someday?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful," Elizabeth said unthinkingly. "I would enjoy a chance to roam about and see some things I have read about. If only we had the time now!"

Darcy stowed this information away carefully in his mind for use at a later time. "Did you ever learn the language?"

"No," Elizabeth replied. "We never had the opportunity for tutors in foreign languages. I can read some Ancient Greek, though."

Darcy fought off the bitter thoughts of how negligent Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had been regarding the education of their children. His efforts were aided by Josiah.

"I've been told the concert halls here are exceptional," Josiah said.

"You're quite right, Mr. Ridgeway," said Flitwick. "I've only managed to get to a few in my travels, but it is not an opportunity I recommend passing on."

Conversation flowed easily between the party with Flitwick and Felicia taking responsibility for speaking with the natives. Neither had the best pronunciation, but could manage well enough to communicate the wishes of the table. The sun had begun to set by the time Flitwick suggested they head back for the carriages.

"Cards, anyone?" Josiah asked after loading back up into the carriage.

* * *

The group stopped again at Constantinople, then at Cairo.

"Anyone happen to speak any Arabic?" Felicia asked amusedly upon disembarking from the carriage.

"Not a single lick of it," McGonagall answered. "Filius, you've been given instructions on getting to their building of government, haven't you? My understanding is that someone is to meet us there."

Flitwick cheerfully started an explanation of how the magical populace of Egypt was still ruled by a monarchy while he led the group out across the sands in which they had landed.

Darcy watched delightedly as Elizabeth took in the environment.

"I've read of deserts, but nothing could have primed me for _this_," Elizabeth said with breathless excitement. She kicked up a bit of sand and laughed at it. "How very interesting the lives of the people who live here must be! Why, there's not a drop of water in sight! Oh, what I take for granted!"

Darcy hoped and prayed he would never take Elizabeth's pleasure at seeing new things for granted.

"What are _those_, Professor Flitwick?" Sophia asked, pointing to monstrous triangles in the distance.

"Those, Miss Capulet, are pyramids, and our destination," said Flitwick with a grin. He suddenly lit up entirely and called out to someone in a foreign language.

Soon, a man with dark skin and even darker curly hair floated before the group on a carpet. "Filius!" the new man said jovially, in a thick accent. He hopped off the carpet, which then flopped to the ground, lifeless, and shook hands heartily with Flitwick.

"This is an old dueling friend of mine, Ibrahim," Flitwick told his party. "I wrote him some time ago asking for his help. He never _did_ write me back, however," he continued with an accusatory tone as he turned back to Ibrahim, "so I was not sure whether to expect him or not!"

Ibrahim gave a hearty belly laugh and said something in his native tongue that made Flitwick join him.

Darcy found it absolutely fascinating how the two men communicated. Neither seemed to speak much of the other's language, and yet they managed to understand each other very well. Before long, everyone had boarded Ibrahim's carpet and they were streaking off towards the pyramids.

"These should be the norm in England!" Elizabeth declared as she held her arm off the side of the carpet, nearly touching the sands below. "This is surely preferable to being cooped up in a carriage!"

"Don't presume your opinion is shared by everyone," said Felicia with tightly closed eyes.

Elizabeth was immediately completely occupied with trying to see to Felicia's comfort.

When Ibrahim escorted the group off his carpet on top of the tallest of the pyramids, Felicia quickly regained composure and seemed entirely relieved to be able to sit on a solid surface.

"Have you _ever_ seen something so magnificent?" Elizabeth demanded of the other champions as she looked out over the great expanse laid out before them. She positively beamed with excitement.

After Felicia declared herself ready to continue, Ibrahim rolled up his carpet and stuffed it into a bag on his back. He then drew his wand, set it to the topmost stone, and said something in what Darcy assumed to be his own ancient language, for it certainly was not the Latin he was used to hearing, nor quite what Ibrahim had been using before. The stone melted away, revealing an excruciatingly long spiraling staircase that descended into darkness.

Ibrahim said something to Flitwick that made the small man's eyes glow with anticipation.

"Ibrahim says there are two ways we can get to our destination," Flitwick said excitedly. "We can take the stairs, or we can slide."

"Slide?" Josiah asked interestedly.

Ibrahim began waving his wand before him in ornate circles. Sand came from all around him and began to follow the path of his wand. With a final incantation, the sand hardened into an unyielding disk, which Ibrahim offered to Josiah.

"You're sure about this?" Josiah asked nervously.

Ibrahim smiled and nodded. "Much fun," he said.

Josiah took the disk and exhaled very carefully as he approached the stairs. He looked back to Ibrahim again, who nodded encouragingly, and then sat upon the disk. He was clearly bracing himself and building fortitude when Ibrahim rushed forward and shoved him.

"Too long," Ibrahim said by way of explanation.

Darcy had been prepared to be very cross with Ibrahim on Josiah's behalf, but then he heard his companion's hearty laugh as he spiraled down the center of the pyramid.

"Professor, I am allowed use of my wand so long as I am supervised by you, Professor McGonagall, or Mrs. Daelyn, correct?" Elizabeth eagerly inquired.

"You are," Flitwick answered with a knowing smile.

In the blink of an eye, Elizabeth had drawn her wand from her sleeve. As Ibrahim began constructing a second disk, she mimicked the movements of his wand.

Ibrahim smiled as he realized what Elizabeth was about. After handing his second disk to Sophia, who showed much less hesitation than Josiah, he began coaching Elizabeth through the required spell. The results of her endeavors were significantly less refined than Ibrahim's. In fact, the sand she had summoned burst apart when she tried to harden it. Nonetheless, she was absolutely delighted with her efforts.

"Smart girl," Ibrahim observed after Elizabeth began her journey down the stairs on his latest sand sled. He added something more in his own language, but Darcy had not a single hope of understanding him.

"You're entirely correct, Ibrahim," said Flitwick. He turned to the last champion. "Well, Mr. Darcy, will it be stairs or slide for you?"

Inspired by his beloved, Darcy tried following Ibrahim's spellcasting, himself. His efforts were no better than Elizabeth's, but he enjoyed the exercise entirely and felt not the slightest bit of shame as he accepted the disc offered him and took the exhilarating journey down the stairs. He was somewhat dizzy when he disembarked from the tight wind of the trajectory he had taken.

"Do you think I would be allowed to go again?" Elizabeth asked, staring up toward the top of the stairs.

"You wish to climb up all those stairs?" Sophia asked disbelievingly.

"We shall all have to, at some point, if we are to get back to the carriages," Josiah said reasonably.

"That is actually not the case, Mr. Ridgeway."

Darcy, Elizabeth, Sophia, and Josiah all whipped around to see that Professor Flitwick, along with Professor McGonagall, Felicia, and Ibrahim had already joined them.

"You mean there was another way to get here?" Josiah asked with some amount of outrage.

"Taking the stairs in some fashion is considered a sort of rite of initiation," said Flitwick with mischief in his eyes. "They have not been used consistently in nearly two centuries."

Elizabeth's eyes lit up. "Then I can go down them several more times, since there is a quick way to the top!"

"Certainly not, Bennet," McGonagall chided with good enough humor. "We have other things that must be done."

As they progressed through some ancient looking tunnels, Josiah took in stride the teasing of Ibrahim with an easy smile.

"It would be fascinating to learn more about hieroglyphics," Darcy said to Elizabeth when she paused to examine the paintings on a wall. "It's a shame we only spent two weeks on them in Ancient Runes."

"Kitty would be so utterly delighted to see this," Elizabeth said longingly.

"Do you miss your sisters very much?" Darcy asked concernedly.

"I am quite removed from them, presently," Elizabeth said somewhat reluctantly. "It is a strange feeling to be completely apart from all of them. I'm used to being able to share experiences with at least one."

Darcy took advantage of the fact that he and Elizabeth were at the back of the group to grab her hand and kiss it. "I am not one of your sisters, but I hope I can serve the office of sharing experiences with well enough."

"You most certainly are not," Elizabeth said with a smile. "I suppose you will do, however."

Darcy set Lizzy's hand on his arm and patted it comfortingly.

They were shown the series of chambers that made up the home of the Egyptian magical government, and even met the princess who was next in line for the throne. Samia, as she was called, spoke enough English to be able to communicate with the guests Ibrahim brought before her. She invited them to dine with her. Darcy found it difficult to stomach some of the foods put before him, but managed creditably.

Samia was reluctant to discuss the competition at all, which Darcy could readily understand. She could not be faulted for wanting to keep the capabilities of Egypt's champions a mystery. Despite her reluctance on that subject, not a dull moment passed and there was a great deal of disappointment when Flitwick said they must be on their way.

Ibrahim delivered the travelers directly to their carriages. With the thestrals now well rested, the party took to the skies again.

* * *

Finally, the carriages landed in the final destination of Mumbai. The champions had been told explicitly that, no matter what they had been taught in England, they were to refer to the city exclusively as Mumbai, not Bombay, for the duration of their stay, lest they offend their hosts. The magical populace did not bow to the whims of a foreign government.

Upon exiting the carriage, Lizzy found herself unable to pick something to focus on. Bright colors were everywhere. Animals she had never seen roamed about. The people looked so very different from anything she had seen before. The language was utterly fascinating. The strangest looking statues dominated the scenery.

"I know not what to make of all this," said Darcy.

"I don't know that I ever want to leave!" Lizzy said as reply. "I could surely spend the entirety of each of my remaining days exploring this area alone and never know it all!"

"We will have plenty of time for exploring in a bit," said Felicia. "Let us go check in at the tent over there. The sooner we do that, the sooner the lot of you can change out of those vile Ministry robes."

"Felicia," McGonagall hissed.

"I'll not hide from the truth, Minerva," said Felicia unapologetically.

"I do not disagree with the sentiment, merely the time and place it was expressed," said McGonagall, glancing at the people milling about them.

"I'm not saying anything they haven't already thought," Felicia stated.

The champions went with their chaperones and carefully followed each instruction given to them to the letter until they were completely checked in and their wands weighed.

After being shown to the room Lizzy would share with Sophia for the duration of the tournament and being introduced to Bavishni, who would be their guide, the girls were delighted to shed the ugly robes they had decided must have been designed by Fudge himself.

"Merlin's beard, I don't think I'll ever wear purple again!" Sophia declared as she balled up the hideous robes and stuffed them into the corner of her trunk.

"How are we to decide which robes to wear first?" Lizzy asked hopelessly as she began hanging her new clothing in her half of the closet. She was surprised to find the furnishings of the room remarkably similar to that which she might have expected back home, though with very different colorings. Then again, in her brief time outside, she had seen a wide variety of dwellings that, she supposed, must represent the varying peoples that would attend. The hosts, it seemed, had gone through a great deal of effort to make their guests feel as much at home as possible.

"Well, luckily, we have someone that can aid us in choosing the most appropriate set," said Sophia. She went to the door of their suite and asked Bavishni to come inside. "Perhaps you would be willing to help us, Bavishni. We want to make a good first impression, you see. Or second, since we've already assaulted everyone's eyes with that mess we showed up in."

Bavishni grinned in response to Sophia's humor. "This will be good for you," she said in her delightful accent to Sophia, grabbing a pink robe with yellow embroidery. "And for you, this," Bavishni added, handing Lizzy a set that was not quite green or blue with silvery threading along the hem and cuffs.

As Lizzy changed into her new robes, she asked after Bavishni's outfit. The young woman patiently explained that she wore a sari and told Lizzy and Sophia about its different components enthusiastically and with great detail.

"It is beautiful," Lizzy said after asking for and being given permission to touch the fabric that swooped gracefully over Bavishni's shoulder.

Bavishni responded in her language before translating it as "thank you" and then suggested they grab the rest of the party to begin their tour.

The rest of the day passed in a blissful blur for Lizzy. Bavishni saw to it that any and all questions any member of the British delegation about Indian culture were answered, and Lizzy found delight in nearly everything she had seen of the foreign land so far. She saw those that were unmistakably champions from other countries as she went about, but decided there would be time enough to interact with them later. She was entirely content to learn about the soil on which she stood.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Wooohoo! Dueling competition, let's gooooo! With the different cultures that have been and will be shown, I tried my best, but I am not an anthropologist, nor am I the greatest researcher in the world so... just be nice and kindly let me know if there's something super screwy?

Hope you enjoyed the update!


	34. Chapter 34

Lizzy found herself absolutely loving the proceedings of the competition. There were, indeed, some trying moments involving bits of pageantry, as Felicia had warned, but she could not complain on the whole.

The opening ceremonies involved a demonstration from each country's champions. Lizzy, Darcy, Sophia, and Josiah executed the spells they had practiced flawlessly, weaving together their various streams of light, puffs of smoke, and conjured apparatuses to display an image of an Aethonan. With a final wave of the wand from each of the four champions, the spectral horse began beating its wings and flew away as the crowd applauded.

It did not take long for Lizzy to decide their demonstration was underwhelming.

Representatives from the Navajo tribe in America seemed to be able to convince the very ground upon which they stood to do their bidding, and their wands were made of bone.

"It is a very carefully guarded secret that no one but their wandmakers know," said Flitwick in response to Lizzy's question of how such a thing would work.

Champions from China showed off a zouyu. Lizzy thought the creature was absolutely breathtaking and could not wait to tell Hagrid about it.

Members of the Zulu tribe in Africa wore clothing that seemed to be made almost entirely of beading. When they danced, the beads crashed together in different combinations that produced apparitions of a variety of creatures from their homeland. They finished their display by transforming into a rhinoceros, lion, zebra, and ostrich.

"They're animagi!" Lizzy burst. She knew her observation to be blatantly obvious, but could not hold it in.

"It's quite a common course of study at Uagadou," said McGonagall, her beady eyes trained on the creatures that walked off the stage in a graceful and orderly fashion. "I have been trying to convince the Ministry to open an exchange program with the school for years."

Lizzy was suddenly very hopeful that there would be a lightning storm soon so she could take her Animagus potion and find out what form she would take.

Throughout the rest of the ceremonies, Lizzy was lucky to see a myriad of creatures she had never dreamed she would gaze upon. Saw wands of unique materials she would not have been able to imagine. Heard a variety of ancient languages; while any witch or wizard could use any language possessing magical power to cast their spells, they were often most successful when using the language associated with their place of origin.

"Oh, I could die happy now, I am sure!" Lizzy told Darcy as he walked back to their rooms with her.

"I would ask that you not make the attempt," said Darcy.

Lizzy laughed. "Just because I _could_ die happy at this moment does not mean I have any intention of doing so!"

"Dueling doesn't start for another day yet. We have all of tomorrow to ourselves," said Darcy. "How would you like to spend the time?"

Lizzy found herself overwhelmed with the possibilities. "I couldn't possibly decide! There are so many things I would like to see more of! Do you think one of the champions from Poland would be willing to show me how they conjured those flowers? Could we find someone to interpret for me so I might talk with the Brazilians? How is it possible that a people have managed to adapt to living in the frozen tundra?"

Darcy laughed, disrupting Lizzy's questions that would have been endless, otherwise. He kissed her hand affectionately. "Perhaps, my dear, it might be best for us to simply wander and take advantage of whatever opportunity presents itself?"

Lizzy agreed such was probably a wise plan just as they were approaching the door to the room she shared with Sophia. "Goodnight, Darcy," she said with a serene smile.

"It gives me such great happiness to see you so excited, yet at peace," Darcy told her with a brilliant grin of his own. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, bid her goodnight, and retreated to the room he and Josiah had been assigned.

* * *

Four days and fifteen duels later, Lizzy still felt fresh as a daisy. All her long nights at the Ministry, extended study sessions, and practice duels with Felicia and Flitwick had built up her endurance considerably since her last tournament.

She and Sophia wandered the marketplace that had popped up around the site of the competition with Bavishni. Josiah and suffered an impressive blow to the head in his last duel and was resting. Darcy still had another duel before he was finished for the day.

"There is only one earring of each style here, Bavishni," said Sophia as she examined a display of jewels. "Is it customary in India to only wear one, or are these samples?"

"These are not earrings," Bavishni explained with a smile. She tapped her bejeweled nose as explanation.

Sophia clamped a hand over her own nose as if to protect it as she bent over the display again.

"Do they have a meaning, Bavishni?" Lizzy enquired as she picked up a ruby set in gold. "Or are they simply decorative?"

"It serves many purposes," Bavishni answered. Lizzy thoroughly enjoyed the way Bavishni's voice lilted through English with her native pronunciations. "Many girls get them when they are of age to marry, and it is said that jewels on the left reduce pains associated with being female. Many also believe it protects against vashikaran – being controlled."

The woman that owned the cart said something to Bavishni in the language Lizzy had learned to recognize as Hindi.

"What did she say?" Lizzy asked interestedly.

Bavishni grinned devilishly. "Lakshmi asks if you want it and offers to put it in for you."

Lizzy's wide eyes pivoted quickly between the jewel in her hands, Bavishni, Sophia, and the shopkeeper. "You cannot be serious!"

"It only hurts a little," said Bavishni with a shrug. She said something to the shopkeeper and they both laughed.

"What now?" Lizzy asked somewhat irritably after Lakshmi had said something else to her guide.

"She says she thinks an emerald would look better on you and would likely be more appreciated by your man," Bavishni answered unabashedly.

Lizzy dropped the nose ring and her jaw simultaneously. She was brought back to her senses by Sophia beginning to cackle beside her.

"It would be a fun experiment," Sophia said while drying her eyes. "Darcy barely looks away from you, as is. I should become quite rich, I think, if I were to start collecting bets on how many things he would run into if you _did_ get a jewel put in your nose."

Lizzy mumbled unintelligibly as she took her time collecting the fallen ruby. She cleaned the item as best she could, put it back in its proper spot, thanked Lakshmi, and headed off, forcing Sophia and Bavishni to move on with her.

As she lay in bed that night, Lizzy played her time spent at the cart with the nose rings again and again. She thought about all that Bavishni had said the jewelry meant, and she realized she liked the idea immensely.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Lizzy?" said Sophia anxiously. "We were told to represent England honorably!"

Lizzy sat on a stool offered her by the kindly shopkeeper and smoothed the skirts of her latest dueling robes. "How can my participation in such a well-honored tradition of our host country misrepresent our homeland?" she asked reasonably.

"It can do so very easily!" Sophia objected. "When you return with that in your nose, people at the Ministry will think you wild!"

"People at the Ministry are determined to look down on me no matter what," said Lizzy offhandedly. She observed with great interest as Bavishni discussed the options of jewels with Lakshmi.

"You parents would be upset, surely!" Sophia tried a different tactic.

"Now you have convinced me," said Lizzy gravely. She waited until Sophia had started to relax before smiling mischievously. "I will _definitely_ go through with this."

Sophia groaned anxiously and ran her hands down her face. "Fine! But don't say I didn't warn you!"

"I shall be sure everyone knows I made this decision against your explicit advice," Lizzy assured.

"Which one, Lizzy?" Bavishni interrupted, opening her hand to Lizzy to show three choices.

All boasted emeralds. One was nearly the size of Lizzy's eye, and she discarded it immediately. The remaining two were more to her tastes. One was a reasonable size and set in silver. The smallest was set in gold. "That one, I think," Lizzy decided, pointing at the gold setting. She had caved on allowing an emerald over a ruby as it better suited her complexion, but was determined she would _not_ sport strictly Slytherin colors.

Bavishni began a running translation as Lakshmi drew her wand and spoke as she prepared for the installation of Lizzy's oddity. "She is cleaning the jewel now. Next, she will bring it to a point. You will begin taking deep breaths with your eyes closed and during one of those, Lakshmi will set the ring. Another charm will blunt the end and prevent it from accidentally falling out."

Lizzy watched carefully as Lakshmi chanted and waved her wand over the jewel. When Lakshmi picked it up again, she showed Lizzy the pointed tip, then nodded to Bavishni.

"What if I want to watch?" Lizzy asked impulsively upon sighting a mirror.

Bavishni conferred with Lakshmi, who shrugged and flicked her wand at the mirror so it hovered right before Lizzy's face. "She thought you might be made uncomfortable," Bavishni offered as explanation.

Lizzy shook her head firmly. "I am not afraid," she said.

Two flicks of Lakshmi's wand saw Lizzy's nose set with an emerald.

Grinning widely, Lizzy turned to Sophia. "Well, Sophia? What do you think? Shall we pick something for you?"

"Merlin, no!" Sophia burst, then laughed nervously. "I am not so adventurous as you, Lizzy."

* * *

Darcy pressed his handkerchief to his cheek as he made his way across the competition grounds. Having finished his last duel of the day in which he fought a young woman from Portugal, he was eager to tend to the wound that had reopened several times since he had acquired it that morning in his first duel. Flitwick had advised against doing anything more than wiping the blood away while he continued to compete, as the mark served as a sort of badge of courage.

"Oh, hello, Darcy!" Sophia greeted when Darcy entered the building that housed them. "How did your duels go today?"

"I won two, lost another, and came to a draw on the other two," Darcy answered. "Where is Elizabeth?" he asked. She and Sophia might as well have been joined at the hip for all the time they had been spending together since coming to India.

"She's around here somewhere," Sophia said evasively.

"_Bennet, what have you done?!"_

Darcy whipped around at hearing McGonagall's rather shrill tones. Elizabeth came running at him with an impish grin upon her face. She grabbed his arm and pulled him after her.

"Come on, come on!" Elizabeth urged as she led Darcy back out onto the street. "We can't let her catch us!"

"How is it _possible_ that _you've _managed to upset McGonagall so badly?" Darcy asked without breaking stride.

"You'll see in a minute," Elizabeth giggled.

Darcy rolled his eyes humorously and continued to follow where Elizabeth led until she finally stopped on the outskirts of the competition site. "_Now_ will you tell me what you've done to set McGonagall against you?" he asked as he breathed heavily to regulate himself.

As a response, Elizabeth turned, exposing the whole of her face to him for the first time since they parted in the morning.

Darcy felt his breath hitch as he noticed the gem on the slightly red and swollen half of Elizabeth's nose. "That is new," he said as he stepped closer to her without realizing it. It was as if the emerald had cast a rope around him and pulled him in.

"Do you like it?" Elizabeth asked, suddenly anxious.

"Like it?" Darcy said lowly. He did not know that he would ever be able to explain why, but he found the sight of his beloved with such an adornment was the most enticing thing he had ever laid eyes on.

"Yes," Elizabeth said smally. "What do you think?"

"The_ only_ reason," Darcy said hoarsely, "I have not taken you into my arms to show you my approval is that I fear I would not be able to control myself." He tightened his hands clasped behind his back to the point of pain, though he continued to gaze at his beloved with unconcealed desire. Before his good sense could be overrun, he continued, "We do not have to go face McGonagall just yet, but I think we ought to be in a more populated area than this for the sake of my sanity."

Blushing violently, Elizabeth obliged by leading Darcy back into the densely populated marketplace.

* * *

Dinner turned out to be quite the interesting affair. Felicia had burst into hysterical laughter the moment she saw the emerald protruding from Lizzy's nose. Flitwick took it all in with mild interest and hardly any surprise. McGonagall was sullen throughout the meal and made various comments leaving no one in doubt of her opinion that Lizzy had acted very rashly and foolishly. Josiah had looked at Lizzy's nose from multiple angles and asked after the process. Sophia had stayed as quiet as possible, desperately hoping no one, especially McGonagall, would ask after her role in the affair.

"You are aware how this will be perceived back home, Miss Bennet?" Flitwick asked after everyone had settled at the table.

"It will cause quite the shock, I am sure," Lizzy answered.

"How do you plan to address it?" Felicia asked, dabbing at her eyes with her napkin. She had only just regained control of herself.

"What do you suggest?" Lizzy asked in turn.

"Take it out!" McGonagall immediately replied.

Under the table, Darcy crushed Lizzy's hand in his own, though his face remained impassive.

"No, Professor, I'm afraid that isn't an option," said Lizzy. She squeezed Darcy's hand in reassurance and he relaxed his grip.

"I think it will be acceptable to leave it be as long as we are here," said Flitwick. "Before we leave, I will teach you and Mr. Darcy the appropriate variant of concealment charm. It'll be up to you, Mr. Darcy, to make sure Jane Bennet knows it."

"I expect such a charm will be in constant use at Hogwarts, Miss Bennet," said McGonagall sternly. "Many of the younger girls look up to you, you know. I'm sure you have some grandiose reason for doing what you have, but the others will misinterpret it."

"Yes, Professor," Lizzy conceded. She was assaulted by a wave of guilt. How could she tell Lydia and Kitty to behave, then go and do as she had? What kind of example did that set?

"You've got some work to do to get back in McGonagall's good graces," Felicia whispered to Lizzy as the professors turned their attentions to Josiah and Sophia.

"She can't stay angry with me for long," said Lizzy. "That being said, I know I have quite the task ahead of me."

Felicia leaned forward to look at Darcy. "And what is your opinion, Mr. Darcy?" she asked with a suggestive twitch of her eyebrows.

"My opinion is insignificant," said Darcy unconcernedly as he set uttapam onto both his and Lizzy's plates. "Miss Bennet's nose is hers to do with as she pleases."

"Yes, I'm sure you are entirely indifferent," said Felicia, barely restraining from another bout of laughter.

* * *

"How is your foot today?" Darcy asked as he and Elizabeth wound their way through the marketplace. Everyone had the day off dueling so the champions could enjoy a well-earned rest and have opportunities to learn each other's skills. Five days of dueling had seen each contestant enter the ring twenty-five times. In her last duel, Elizabeth had leapt and landed strangely on her foot, causing it to swell impressively. Darcy thought the day of rest had come at a most opportune time.

"It is as though I never did anything to harm it," Elizabeth answered. "Felicia did some different spells on it and had me take some potions."

"Felicia now, is it?" Darcy asked interestedly.

"She said Sophia and I might call her by her Christian name outside the ring," Elizabeth said. Suddenly, she had to fight a smirk. "She said I earned the right after withstanding McGonagall's rage."

Darcy smiled and agreed. McGonagall had barely spoken to Elizabeth for several hours after discovering the nose ring, but had not been able to withstand her endearing animagus student for long. She still grimaced every time she saw Elizabeth's nose, but had at least stopped taking advantage of every chance to call Elizabeth a fool.

"I notice you were not angry, Mr. Darcy," said Bavishni with a smirk to Elizabeth. She had come along with the couple so she could translate.

"Why should I be angry?" Darcy asked as casually as he could manage. He pointedly avoided looking at Elizabeth's nose.

"Miss Lizzy originally considered a ruby," Bavishni continued. "Perhaps we should see if Lakshmi can switch it out."

"Don't change a thing," Darcy suddenly said harshly.

Bavishni's grin only widened. "Has it been explained to you what it means?"

"Oh, that looks lovely!" Elizabeth said, perhaps a little louder than necessary, as they approached the campsite that had been set up by one of the African peoples that had sent representatives. Each group that came had their own dwellings reminiscent of their homeland. This building looked to Darcy as if it was made of mud.

Darcy took in the scene with a grimace. "It seems rather savage to me."

Elizabeth glared up at Darcy. "Just because they are different does not mean they are wrong or lesser, Mr. Darcy," she said hotly. She turned determinedly to Bavishni. "Could you ask your counterpart if we might be introduced?"

"What is it about all this that has caught your attention?" Darcy asked quietly, still absorbing the vastly different people before him while Bavishni spoke with their guide.

"The colors," Elizabeth said, and she nodded to a young man with his back toward them while he worked at a loom. She suddenly drew her brows together and looked crossly at Darcy. "You will be civil to him, will you not?"

"Does he know what it is to be civil?" Darcy said as his eyes glided along the thatched roof.

"If you are determined to look at him the same way Lady Catherine looks at me, you may go on your way," Elizabeth snarled.

Darcy visibly started at being compared to his aunt. "I am _not – _"

"You most certainly are," Elizabeth challenged, crossing her arms. "His people live differently from you, and so you think they are worth nothing. Well, sir, I do not like such an attitude _at all_ and think it quite stupid and small-minded. Not becoming of a Ravenclaw, at all!"

"They have agreed to meet," Bavishni announced, indicating for Elizabeth and Darcy to join her by her countryman.

"Well, Darcy, what will it be?" Elizabeth asked shortly.

Darcy straightened his spine and held his arm for Elizabeth to take, then led the way to Bavishni. In a quick moment of reflection, he realized the utter truth of what Elizabeth had said and decided he very much did _not_ want to think the same way his aunt did. He was determined to be everything pleasant and do his Hogwarts house proud.

"This is Kripal," Bavishni introduced her counterpart, "guide to the representatives of the Ashanti tribe in Africa."

Through Bavishni, Kripal introduced Kobina, the man at the loom, to Lizzy and Darcy. Kobina, as it turned out, was not alone at the loom, but had a boy of four sitting in his lap. Lizzy was shocked to learn the young boy was Kobina's son, for he could not be older than twenty. He also had a newborn daughter that he and his wife had left with family back home.

"Does his wife travel with him?" Lizzy asked Bavishni as Kobina's son stared at the buttons on Darcy's robes. She smiled indulgently at the boy.

Bavishni asked Kripal in Hindi, who then asked Kobina in _his_ language, and the response traveled back the reverse way.

Kobina's wife, who was an animagus that took the form of a hornbill, had gone out in search of something or other and would return later. Lizzy asked if she might watch Kobina work at the loom for a while, and he acquiesced. A few words from him had his son grabbing various strips of cloth from a nearby basket in vibrant shades of blue and green. Lizzy delighted in listening to Kobina instruct his son in their native tongue on how to start a fresh pattern.

"How could you call a man so dedicated to teaching his son savage?" Lizzy asked Darcy quietly without taking her eyes off of Kobina's son as he struggled with the delicate work.

"Forgive me for speaking so cruelly, Elizabeth," Darcy urgently whispered. "I did so without thinking and am now mortified by such. I'm grateful for your open and cheerful ways, for this is, indeed, a very rewarding experience."

Lizzy turned briefly to smile at Darcy, but could not stand to keep her gaze from Kobina and his son for long.

In the next hour, Lizzy and Darcy exchanged a variety of facts and anecdotes with Kobina with the help of Bavishni and Kripal. They learned that Kobina was weaving kente cloth and that the design he had been working on when they first came upon him was to be a gift for his wife's aging uncle. Lizzy, in response, told Kobina about the robes she had gifted Lydia. Kobina had seven siblings, said he was sorry Darcy had only one, and delighted in swapping stories with Lizzy about the troubles they had gotten into with their siblings as children.

Before too much time had passed, Kobina's son got bored of weaving and entertained himself with Darcy's walking stick, instead. Lizzy's heart warmed when Darcy began showing the young boy how to hold it like a sword, and even grabbed a nearby stick to use himself. She had laughed delightedly when Kobina's son proved he already had some sort of weapons training by jabbing Darcy in the gut as if with a spear. Kobina had scolded his son good naturedly and assured Darcy was well before resuming his weaving.

When Lizzy and Darcy made to leave, Kobina offered Lizzy the brilliantly patterned blue and green cloth on which he had been working.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly!" Lizzy exclaimed, trying to hand it back to Kobina.

"He insists," Bavishni said after conveying Lizzy's objection and waiting for Kobina's response. "He says you might consider it a thank you for – for Darcy instructing his son, if you must."

Lizzy was very skeptical of Bavishni's hesitation regarding Darcy, but decided right then was not an appropriate time to address it. She thanked Kobina and waited to leave while Darcy exchanged a goodbye. At Kobina's insistence, the men shook left hands; it was a sign of goodwill and trust among his people. Bavishni exchanged goodbyes with Kripal, and the party set off.

"The Spaniard I fought yesterday suggested going a few bouts of fencing," Darcy said after a while of walking and watching with Lizzy. "They are quartered just a little further west of here, I believe. Would you mind?"

"I was not aware you spoke Spanish," Lizzy said.

"I don't," said Darcy, "but he and I both speak enough Italian that we were able to converse."

Lizzy stated she had no objection to watching Darcy fence with someone more competent than herself or Albert and, when asked, Bavishni professed her interest in the art, as well.

"Why did you hesitate?" Lizzy asked Bavishni quietly after Darcy introduced them to the Spaniards and took his place across the one named Raphael. "Back with Kobina, about Darcy?"

"Kobina assumed Darcy to be your husband," Bavishni shamelessly explained.

"Oh," was all Lizzy could think to say. She realized later that she took no offense at the assumption.

* * *

As the days progressed, Elizabeth acquired a host of fascinating trinkets and learned a great many spells in a variety of languages. In addition to the nose ring and kente cloth, she received moccasins from a tribe in America, feathers from an Aztec headdress, a golden armband from the Greeks, traded the outer layer of her robes for a Korean hanbok, and several others.

When Darcy came upon her just after she had her hair styled by a champion from Norway named Solveig, he had very nearly lost control of himself again, just like when he had first seen his beloved with her nose ring. When Solveig's brother Bjorn, also a competitor, had offered to show him how to properly throw an axe while Elizabeth did Solveig's hair, he had eagerly accepted the distraction.

Darcy briefly worried for Elizabeth safety when, after meeting some champions from the Ottoman Empire, she had come back to their quarters with elaborate patterns on her hands.

"Bennet!" McGonagall had exclaimed upon laying eyes on her student.

"It's temporary, Professor!" Elizabeth hurriedly assured, quickly hiding her hands behind her back.

McGonagall sighed resignedly and twitched her hand in request of Elizabeth's. "You're sure this is not permanent?" McGonagall asked as she examined the intricate dye.

"Absolutely," Elizabeth answered. "The henna will start to fade in about two weeks."

"We will be back home before then," McGonagall said flatly, looking at her student over her glasses.

"Between gloves and a few charms, no one will be any the wiser," Elizabeth reasoned.

"It _is_ a pretty pattern," McGonagall finally said reluctantly, releasing Elizabeth's hands. "Are you determined to cause me to have an apoplexy before we leave?"

Elizabeth smiled somewhat sheepishly. "I am determined to enjoy myself to the fullest."

Felicia, Bavishni, and Sophia all suddenly burst into laughter.

Elizabeth whipped around instantly, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What?" she demanded.

"Oh, nothing, Lizzy," said Felicia a little too lightly. "Absolutely nothing! Come, let us go! The French have invited us to dine with them."

"Put on gloves, Bennet," said McGonagall quickly.

"I hardly think _this_ will cause scandal after you've seen what Rochelle has done," said Elizabeth, and she left without covering the dye on her hands.

"What was so dreadfully amusing?" Darcy asked Sophia lowly as the group got ready to leave.

Sophia's eyes sparkled. "Bavishni told Felicia and me that henna tattoos like Lizzy's are usually given to brides in preparation for their wedding."

Darcy was determined to trace the patterns on Elizabeth's hands as often as he could before they started to fade.

After McGonagall was introduced to Rochelle, who had agreed to having part of her head shaved by Solveig, she ceased complaining about whatever quirks Elizabeth took up.

* * *

The last days of the competition proved very challenging for Lizzy. She had made a great many friends and was incredibly sad to leave them. Kobina's son had cried when his father told him he would likely never see Lizzy or Darcy again. Lizzy and Solveig, who had regularly styled each other's hair, exchanged locks. Solveig had immediately braided Lizzy's hair into her own.

Each nationality gave another demonstration at the closing ceremonies, though many included flairs they had learned from new acquaintances and made the whole spectacle just that much more breathtaking. Five duelists were recognized for having the highest number of wins and were awarded a variety of prizes, including pieces of honor to take back to their governments. Neither Lizzy, Darcy, Josiah, nor Sophia were in the top five, but they ranked decently overall and could find no cause to complain.

The most trying goodbye for Lizzy was the one she shared with Bavishni on the day of departure.

"Oh, you must come visit!" Lizzy told Bavishni, holding the other girl's hands as she made her demand.

"Perhaps I can manage it as a trip with Abhijay once we are wed," said Bavishni. "I will miss you, Lizzy."

"I hope Abhijay knows what a lucky man he is," Lizzy said. She kissed Bavishni affectionately on the cheek and received one in turn.

"He is as aware of his good fortune as your Mr. Darcy is," Bavishni answered with a grin. "You _will_ write to tell me of your wedding."

"Bavishni, nothing is set in – "

Bavishni held up a finger to interrupt Lizzy. "You will write me."

Lizzy rolled her eyes in good humor. "I will write to you, whatever the reason may be."

"It seems so strange to be heading home," Sophia remarked as their carriage took to the clouds. "How can we ever explain all we've seen?"

"I don't think we can," said Josiah. "Everyone at home will think us mad if we try to tell them of the things we saw and the things we did." He looked teasingly to Lizzy and said, "You especially!"

Lizzy only sighed and began tracing one of the fading patterns on the back of her hand. "I wish there was a way people at home could easily experience what we have. What greater understanding there would be between people of differing magical cultures! How much we could learn from each other! The things we could do!"

"Perhaps, someday, England might host the international competition," Josiah ventured. "Think of how many Indians were involved and influenced because the competition was on their land. Maybe, just maybe, one of you can make it into the Ministry high enough to see it done."

"One of us?" Sophia asked indignantly. "Why not _you_?"

"I prefer fighting dragons to politicians," Josiah readily explained. "Peizhi said he might be able to invite me to work on some Fireballs with him in China in a few months. I hadn't considered my career when I got involved with the competition, but it looks like the career will be helped by it, anyway."

"Well, there's not enough money in the world that could get me to go to work for Cornelius Fudge," Sophia declared. "Lizzy, Darcy, it's up to you."

"Oh, absolutely not," Lizzy laughed. "Darcy's uncle is the Earl of Matlock, however, so perhaps we might convince him to aide us."

For at least two hours, the four champions of England conspired how they might manage to convince the Ministry of Magic to host such a massive event. By the time they settled in to sleep, they felt satisfied with their ideas and plans for action.

* * *

**Author's Note**

! Lovelies, I have been WAITING to share this chapter. Please, pretty please with a cherry on top, share your thoughts with me. :)


	35. Chapter 35

"What the devil are we stopping for?" Josiah asked loudly over the rain that battered the carriage window. "We are so very nearly back to the Ministry, as is!"

"So very nearly?" Sophia argued. She and Josiah had started bickering like siblings a week into the competition. "We are barley in France!"

Lizzy rubbed her eyes, having been rudely awakened from her nap by her companions. When a brilliant flash of light streaked across the sky, however, she became keenly aware of everything around her. "A storm," she breathed.

"Obviously," Josiah mocked.

"A _lightning_ storm," Lizzy said as a slow grin spread across her features. She suddenly began scrambling about the confined space. "Where are my shoes? Josiah, did you hide them?"

"No, Lizzy, they are here," said Sophia, pulling Lizzy's shoes out from under the discarded outer layer of her robes. "Do you plan on going out in this mess?"

"_Yes_," Lizzy said emphatically as she jammed her feet into the shoes and tied them haphazardly.

"The potion," Darcy said, his face lighting up with understanding.

Lizzy nodded eagerly and pressed her face to the window as another streak of lightening made an appearance. The moment the carriage landed with a significant splash of mud, she tumbled out of the it and slid her way over to McGonagall just as the woman was descending her own equipage.

"What potion is so important as to warrant – _Oh!_" cried Sophia. She clapped her hands excitedly. "Lizzy shall be a true animagus, now! I confess I rather want to learn after seeing all those animagi from Africa! What do you think she'll be, Darcy?"

"A mule would be fitting, for she's as stubborn as one," Josiah jested.

Darcy paid neither of his companions any mind, but threw on his coat and hat, then stepped out of the carriage and made his way to Elizabeth and McGonagall. He listened intently as McGonagall shouted directions to Elizabeth over the sounds of the storm around them. Before Elizabeth could step away to consume her potion, he quickly reached out, drew her to him, and planted a kiss on her forehead. Such earned him a brilliant smile from his beloved, who then skipped away as best as she was able through the mud, and a stern glance from McGonagall.

Elizabeth drank the entirety of her potion, drew her wand, and did a few spells, but nothing happened. She looked toward McGonagall, utterly dejected. She dragged her feet when McGonagall beckoned her back.

"It is not always immediate," said McGonagall in surprisingly soothing tones. She set an arm around Elizabeth's shoulder, a rare display of affection. "Now that you've taken the potion, you will turn when everything is right for you to do so. I told you when we started this, Elizabeth, that it would be a long and difficult path. Don't tell me you're getting discouraged now!"

"No, Professor," said Elizabeth thickly.

"Cheer up, Bennet," McGonagall encouraged. "You'll get there."

It was a sullen, silent, and dripping wet Elizabeth that Darcy brought back to the carriage. He dried them both with his wand once they were back inside, but such did not improve Elizabeth's mood. She hid her face and pretended to sleep for most of the rest of the trip. Had it not been for Josiah and Sophia, Darcy would have held her in his arms to provide his beloved comfort.

* * *

"Now, Miss Bennet, you must promise to take care in Hertfordshire," McGonagall said concernedly. "There's still been hardly any news of Wickham, but it is believed he is still in the country."

"And what of Malfoy?" Darcy demanded. His face had fallen to fury at the mention of Wickham, and he spat Malfoy's name like a curse. He had not forgotten that it was likely one of them that was responsible for the deaths of nearly twenty of his tenants.

"Ursus Malfoy?" McGonagall clarified. She shook her head. "Rumor has it he tried to access his family vault some six weeks ago, but the goblins turned him away. Hasn't been seen since.

"An auror will check in with you every other day," McGonagall said, attention again directed to Elizabeth. "They won't draw attention to themselves or your situation, so don't worry on that account. But you must _promise_ to do as they say."

"I promise," Elizabeth said grudgingly.

"Here is your documentation, citing you have permission to use your wand outside of Hogwarts, though you are underage," said Flitwick, offering Elizabeth a letter with the Ministry's seal. "Keep it on you, just in case. Also, remember that – "

"You managed to get the permission for the whole of the summer with the understanding I would only use magic for the competition, the animagus incantation, or an emergency," Elizabeth said in a monotone. "Yes, Professor."

"Well, Minerva, I think we have annoyed Miss Bennet and Mr. Darcy enough," said Flitwick cheerily to his colleague. "Shall we make our exit?"

"You will wait at the inn for your sister?" McGonagall asked of Elizabeth.

"I will not budge until Charles's carriage door is opened for me," Elizabeth answered.

Content with such assurances, McGonagall and Flitwick bid their students goodbye and disapparated.

"Felicia must be well pleased to be home," Darcy said after several minutes of silence between him and Elizabeth as they sat at an inn table, waiting for Jane and Bingley.

"I would imagine so," Elizabeth sighed. "She was unable to tend Sophia and me most mornings for being so ill. And I don't think the local cuisine made things any easier for her."

"That is an entirely reasonable assumption," said Darcy. It had taken him quite a while to adjust to the very different diet of the Indian people, though he now thought he would miss it a great deal. Perhaps he could hire an Indian cook. Such would certainly discourage guests to Pemberley, which was a very appealing idea to him.

"I assume you and Sophia will write to each other regularly?" Darcy ventured after a few more moments of Elizabeth's unusual silence.

"Of course," said Elizabeth. She ran her covered thumb over the back of her gloved hand in a pattern that had become exceedingly familiar to Darcy in the past weeks.

"It pains me to see you this way, Elizabeth," Darcy said lowly, leaning forward on the table. He internally cursed the Muggle proprieties that prevented him taking Elizabeth's hands in his own.

Elizabeth attempted a smile. "I will be well with some time," she said. "I am just so disappointed to leave the competition and all my friends. And then, with the storm…"

Darcy gripped the teacup in front of him with both his hands to prevent himself reaching out to his beloved. She had already been in low spirits the entire journey back to England, but had become truly melancholy after she did _not_ take her animagus form upon consuming the potion.

"McGonagall said it isn't uncommon," Darcy said gently. "You'll manage before long, I am certain."

Elizabeth sighed heavily, then shook her head determinedly and fixed a smile on her face. "This is no way for me to behave," she declared. "My sister is to be married in a mere week!"

Darcy looked at Elizabeth skeptically but, at seeing a hint of pleading in her gaze, played along and pretended all was well. They chatted easily until Bingley bounced into the room.

"Ah, the intrepid traveler returns!" he cried.

Elizabeth smiled at Bingley and accepted his escort to his carriage, where she was quite delighted to be reunited with Jane.

"Lizzy, you look so tan!" Jane commented after the pair had squealed out most of the intensity of their excitement. "Did you meet a great many people? Tell me everything!"

Elizabeth happily obliged and took a great deal of joy in showing her sister the tattoos on her hands that had started to fade. "And I learned some of the most delightful braids from my friend Solveig," Elizabeth said as Jane gawked at the dye. "I can try some of them out on you tonight and if you like them you can have quite the unique hairstyle for your wedding. I daresay that, with your great beauty, you'll even start a new trend. By this time next year, all the finest ladies will get their personal attendants from Norway!"

Jane laughed at that and agreed to let Elizabeth experiment on her hair.

"You have not yet told you sister of your first great adventure," said Darcy with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"There is _more_?" Jane asked, aghast.

"So very much more!" Elizabeth answered. "I think Mr. Darcy has something very particular in mind, however. I will indulge him." She turned to the man in question. "Well, go on. You know the promise I gave Flitwick. Incantation or emergency, only."

Darcy smirked, drew his wand, flicked it a few times, then sat back to enjoy the scene that unfolded as Jane and Bingley saw Elizabeth's entirely permanent nose ring. Jane had mastered the variant of the concealment charm before she and Elizabeth disembarked at Longbourn.

"Not a word to Mrs. Bennet," said Lizzy conspiratorially to her sister.

Jane's eyes widened dramatically. "Heaven forbid she _ever _find out!" She suddenly stopped, turned anxious, and grabbed her sister's hand. "Lizzy, there has been a lot going on while you've been away. Please just keep calm. I will explain all to you as soon as I can."

With a growing feeling of unease, Lizzy entered the house in which she had grown up.

Mrs. Bennet greeted Lizzy as if there had never been an issue between them, declaring she was pleased to have all her daughters back home and demanding Lizzy begin work immediately to help prepare for Jane's wedding.

Kitty and Lydia ran past just as Mrs. Bennet finished her great speech.

"Lydia, it is _mine_, and you _cannot_ have it!" Kitty whined.

"La, it is much better suited to me, Kitty! You can have the grey one!" said Lydia.

Lizzy looked worriedly to Jane, who nodded in understanding and then quickly distracted their mother.

"Kitty! Lydia!" Lizzy hissed, approaching her sisters with all the kindness of a tiger stalking its prey. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Welcome back, Lizzy!" said Lydia.

"Lydia has stolen the ribbon I was just preparing to add to my dress for Jane's wedding!" Kitty said with a frustrated stamp of her foot. "She used all her pin money on treats in Meryton last week, and so can't get anything new for herself!"

"Lydia…" Lizzy said warningly.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Fine, Kitty. We shall split it."

"You most certainly will not," said Lizzy, holding her hand out expectantly. "This is _not_ the kind of thing I want to deal with right now, Lydia! You know the rules and expectations I have for you. Just because we are back at Longbourn, rather than being at Hogwarts, does not give you license to begin behaving like a selfish hoyden again!"

With a very pronounced pout, Lydia pulled the ribbon from her pocket and handed it to Lizzy, then stormed away.

"As for you, Kitty," said Lizzy, giving her sister back her ribbon, "this is the last time I interfere on your behalf. You need to stand up for yourself more forcefully, or she will never respect you."

"Yes, Lizzy," said Kitty contritely. She left with much less noise than her younger sister.

Lizzy looked around quickly for Mr. Bennet and Mary, but upon spotting neither, went up to her room. She simply collapsed on her bed, entirely pleased to be able to stretch all her limbs to their fullest extent after so many days in a carriage.

At least half an hour passed before Jane slipped into the room.

"What sort of mess have I just walked into?" Lizzy asked flatly without removing her gaze from the ceiling.

"Well, we didn't want to send you word while you were so far away and could do nothing about it, but Mary's been keeping to her bed these past two weeks," Jane said heavily. When Lizzy snapped up and looked angrily at her, she continued, "She's had a slight, consistent fever, so it is not just the headaches keeping her down. Nothing I've tried has helped, and I'm at a loss of what to do."

Lizzy leapt off her bed, ripped open her door, and entered Mary's room without knocking.

"Lizzy!" said Mary tiredly, but with excitement. "I am glad you are safely returned. Do not be angry with Jane. I made her promise not to write you."

"Oh, Mary," Lizzy said sadly, sitting on the edge of her sister's bed and beginning to stroke her forehead. "What can I do for you?"

Mary smiled weakly. "Just open the curtain, then go unpack. Be sure to hide anything you don't want to disappear. Lydia has been in a fine form without you here and is likely to steal things."

"Is Mrs. Bennet giving you trouble?" Lizzy asked with great concern as she went to open the curtains, as requested.

"Thankfully not," Mary answered. "Whatever is ailing me has been interfering with my legilimancy, so I've had many blessed hours of quiet. Truly, Lizzy, do not worry for me."

"I will _always_ worry for you, Mary," Lizzy said firmly. "Get some sleep now, yes?"

Mary promised she would and received a kiss to her forehead from Lizzy with a smile before closing her eyes.

"_Two weeks?_" Lizzy asked irritably upon returning to her own room, where Jane was still waiting. "Two weeks Mary has been abed and – "

"I told you, Lizzy that I have tried everything I could think to do!" Jane said somewhat waspishly. "I finally wrote to Madam Pomfrey two days ago, for Mary would not let me until then, but I have yet to hear back from her!"

Lizzy cowed considerably. "I'm sorry, Jane," she said contritely. "Of course you would do everything you can for Mary. I am just so very tired and irritable, but I will try to be better."

Jane softened, sat down on the bed, and patted the spot next to her. She continued after Lizzy had sat. "Mama has been entirely distracted with preparations for the wedding – so much so that she has forgotten to be furious with you, as I'm sure you noticed."

"That changes nothing," said Lizzy hardly.

"I did not expect it to," said Jane smoothly. "I have tried to keep Kitty and Lydia in check, but Mama has been dragging me all over Meryton for various things, and they've regressed considerably."

"I noticed that, as well," Lizzy said flatly.

"Mary kept them in line very well, before she fell ill," Jane sighed. "With her abed, my inconsistency in being home, and Papa always being out now for some business or other, they've been left to grow wild again."

"Papa is out?" asked Lizzy, perking up considerably.

"Almost from dawn to dark," said Jane sadly. "I truly think he is trying to atone for all his years of carelessness, Lizzy. When he is here in the evening, things are much different. He keeps Mama, Kitty, and Lydia all in line. He's been teaching Kitty chess and working with Lydia on debating as a reasonable human. There is not much to show in either of them yet, but I think he could be met with success if he stays consistent."

"And what of Mary? Does he attend her?"

"He sent for the apothecary when she first took to her bed, but did not do so again when I told him it would not be necessary," Jane answered. "He checks on her most nights, but she has been falling asleep very early."

Lizzy rubbed her temples as she considered the mess that was her family. After a moment of self indulgence, she straightened and smiled at her concerned elder sister. "Well, Jane, I will manage the home front. You just focus on preparations to become Mrs. Bingley!"

"Charles and I have been thinking of taking Kitty to Netherfield once we wed," said Jane. "It would make managing Lydia easier, I think."

"Don't worry about that now," Lizzy chided. "Is your dress done? You must show me!"

* * *

"…and Kitty simply lets Lydia walk all over her, just as she did before Hogwarts!" Elizabeth irritably finished her rant on her home affairs to Darcy when they met up for a walk.

"Perhaps I can call a healer here from St. Mungo's under Bingley's name for Mary, and – " Darcy started, but was quite definitively cut off.

"Jane has already written Pomfrey," Elizabeth said caustically.

"As for Lydia, if you are currently withholding the gift you br – "

"I do not want to speak anymore of Lydia!" Elizabeth burst.

Darcy pursed his lips in irritation. He had tried several times throughout Lizzy's spewing to offer solutions or advice, but she had turned each and every attempt aside with growing irritation. "What is it that you want, Elizabeth?" he finally asked with unconcealed annoyance.

"I _want_ to go back to India and not have to deal with all this madness!" Elizabeth huffed.

Darcy looked around, making sure no one would see, then grabbed Elizabeth's hand and dragged her off the path to a pond he knew was hiding in the trees. There he drew his wand and reversed the concealment charm, revealing Elizabeth's nose ring, and sat her down by the edge of the pond.

"I cannot bring you back, at least not yet, but I can remind you of the time spent there," Darcy said as Elizabeth gazed at her reflection.

Elizabeth heaved a great sigh, then leaned her head on Darcy's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Darcy. You were trying to help me, and I snapped at you. Sometimes I just need someone to _listen."_

"Perhaps you might preface with that information in the future," Darcy suggested with an annoyed twitch of his lip.

Elizabeth laughed lightly. "I will try to remember that."

"Truly, is there anything I might do to make your current situation more tolerable?" Darcy asked after a few minutes of contented silence.

"Tell me what is happening at Netherfield," Elizabeth said. Darcy could tell from her tone of voice that she had closed her eyes and might very well fall asleep.

"I will do so gladly, provided we keep moving," said Darcy, rising and offering his hand to his beloved. She pouted adorably, but recognized the wisdom of the suggestion and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"You had best reinstall the charm, then," Elizabeth suggested in a defeated tone.

"I think not," said Darcy as he took Elizabeth's hand and put it in the crook of his arm so her left side was visible to him. "I like looking at that emerald very much and do not want to hide it away just yet."

Elizabeth smiled at the declaration. They headed back toward the road.

"Netherfield," Darcy said as they ambled leisurely. "Where to begin?"

"How is Mrs. Hurst?"

"Excessively uncomfortable and cross," said Darcy with good enough humor. He was pleased to make his beloved laugh with tales of how everyone in the house walked on eggshells around the woman. "She is now regularly demanding of the child that it make its exit, for she grows weary of carrying it."

"I can well believe it!" Elizabeth giggled. "I think it would be the funniest thing in the world if Mrs. Hurst and Jane were to be with child at the same time, for Jane will surely tolerate everything with her monstrous patience and be the complete antipathy of her sister-in-law!"

Darcy could not help but wonder what Elizabeth would be like as an expectant mother, but hurried to distract himself before getting carried away. "Caroline does not quite know what to do with herself."

Elizabeth's eyes sparked. "I should not want to hear of Caroline's suffering, but I confess I am quite eager to do so!"

Darcy laughed and obliged. "Caroline has always had an ally in her sister and has always been the center of attention. Now she has neither distinction."

"Have she and Mrs. Hurst not reconciled?" Elizabeth asked concernedly.

"They tolerate each other," Darcy said after a moment's consideration. "As Bingley tells it, Caroline and Mr. Hurst haven't said a single word to each other."

"Part of me feels sorry for Caroline," Elizabeth said. "How miserable her existence must be, even if that misery is her own making."

"I have no sympathy for her whatsoever," said Darcy decidedly. "She has made her bed, let her lie in it."

"Come now, Darcy," said Elizabeth with an impish grin. "We both know Caroline would _never_ make her own bed!"

* * *

Three days before Jane's wedding saw Longbourn in complete and utter chaos. Mrs. Bennet shouted for something or other every thirty seconds, and her orders often conflicted with ones previously given. Jane tried to help keep things as orderly as best she could, but was often dragged away from completing a task by Mrs. Bennet. Managing the insanity fell largely to Lizzy.

"No, Milly, don't worry over refolding Jane's things," Lizzy told a very harassed looking maid.

"The Mistress said it must be done over," said Milly anxiously.

"I promise you Mrs. Bennet has already forgotten giving such an order and will likely tell you to pack the trunks exactly as they are now within the next twelve hours," Lizzy said exasperatedly. "Please, resume your usual duties."

Immediately after Milly had curtsied gratefully and scurried away, Lizzy went to Lydia's room. "Have you done your required reading today?" she demanded of her sister.

"Oh, I can't possibly _read_ today," said Lydia with a disgusted wrinkle of her nose. "There are so many other things to be done! And I need to go to Meryton."

"We were just there two days ago!" Lizzy exclaimed.

"I know, but I've discovered a hole in my slipper and need to get supplies to mend it," said Lydia, holding up the offending shoe. "Mama saw fit to use all _my_ things while I was away!"

"Mrs. Bennet saw fit to use 'your' supplies because _she_ bought them with _her_ money," said Lizzy with clear irritation. "What money do you plan to use, anyway? I thought you had spent all yours."

"You'll let me borrow some from you, will you not?" Lydia asked anxiously. "I plan to wear these for the wedding!"

"I will not lend you a single bit of money," said Lizzy without regret. "I will, however, buy myself supplies and allow you to use some under my strict supervision."

"Oh, very well," Lydia huffed. She suddenly brightened. "Did you bring me back anything from your travels?"

Lizzy looked down at her little sister unamusedly. "Tell me truly, Lydia, do you think you have behaved in a manner deserving of a gift since my return?"

Lydia sobered immediately.

"That is more like it," said Lizzy when Lydia seated herself with a book. "I've some other things I need to take care of first, but then I shall take you into Meryton."

"Thank you, Lizzy!" said Lydia brightly.

Lizzy rolled her eyes as she exited Lydia's room. She checked in on Mary, went down to the kitchens to sort out Mrs. Bennet's mess of instructions there, made sure Kitty had done the requested work on Jane's flower arrangements, and finally simply stood in a dark corner for a few moments of peace before gathering her things and her youngest sister and going out the door. An auror had stopped by only last night and said all was well, so she felt little guilt for going out without another person possessing full use of their wand. She had jumped through enough hoops for the day already.

"What did you read of today, Lydia?" Lizzy asked as they walked.

"Papa gave me at atlas to study last night, so I looked through that," said Lydia.

"That is not _reading_, Lydia," Lizzy chastised.

"Well, I was looking at a book, wasn't I?" Lydia retorted. "Besides, I learned plenty. You were in India, were you not? What city?"

"Mumbai," Lizzy answered reverently. "It might be labeled as Bombay in the atlas."

"It is," Lydia confirmed. "It is on the western coast of the country. Did you do any sea bathing?"

Lizzy was pleased to engage in somewhat sensible conversation with her sister and continually challenged Lydia's memory of the maps by asking where the country of one of her friends was.

"Oh, I don't remember where Norway is," said Lydia after hearing of Solveig and Bjorn. As they passed a turn in the road that took them into some thick trees, she suddenly brightened considerably. "I think I have something that will make up for it, though!"

Lizzy regarded her sister suspiciously. "What is it?"

"A friend of yours!" Lydia burst. "I met him at Aunt Philips's. He said you'd met at Hogsmeade a few times, but he hasn't been able to return. He was very disappointed not to have been able to take a proper leave of you, you know."

Lizzy felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. "Lydia, who is it?" she demanded. _Anyone_ speaking to her very underage sister so casually was someone to be concerned over, but Lizzy was especially nervous at the mention of Hogsmeade.

"When I said that you were out of town, but coming back soon, he was so very delighted he might be able to renew the acquaintance!" Lydia continued to prattle on. "I knew you would not mind my agreeing to do so on your behalf, and invited him to call at Longbourn, but he suggested this would be much more fun, and he is completely right, of course! You know how I love a good surprise."

Lizzy stopped, gripped her gullible, excitable sister's shoulders tightly, and said very clearly, "Lydia, _who is it?"_

"George Wickham," Lydia answered, eyes having gone wide from shock at her sister's antics.

Lizzy felt her heartrate spike. "We have to go. _Now."_

"But Wickham is just – "

Lizzy did not let her sister finish, but instead clamped down on Lydia's arm and began dragging her away while calculating whether they were closer to Netherfield or Longbourn.

"Leaving so soon, Miss Bennet, Miss Lydia?"

"Wickham!" Lydia exclaimed, her face lighting up in a smile. "See, Lizzy, I told you he was here! Is not this a pleasant surprise?"

Lizzy was about to whip out her wand, but caught sight of a flash of horribly familiar blonde hair in her periphery and hesitated.

"Yes, Lizzy, dear, I brought company with me," said Wickham with a terrible smile. He held his arm out to Lydia in the perfect imitation of a gentleman. "Let us walk ahead, Miss Lydia! My friend will follow along behind with your sister."

"Don't you take a single step, Lydia!" Lizzy shouted in panic.

"Oh, Lizzy, what a foolish choice you've made," said Wickham with an exaggerated pout.

Lizzy made up her mind. She would risk taking on both Malfoy and Wickham. It would at least give Lydia the opportunity to run away. Her wand, however, slipped out of her hand the instant she began pulling it from her sleeve and sped in the direction where Malfoy was hiding behind a particularly large tree trunk.

"What is going on?" Lydia asked, looking between Wickham and her sister. "Why are you not happy, Lizzy? And you said nothing of bringing a friend, Wickham!"

"You are so delightfully stupid, Lydia," said Wickham affectionately, as if to a dog, "and it has simplified my life a great deal. Now, you can either take my arm and follow along like a good little girl, or I can throw you over my shoulder. Either way, I win."

Lydia looked to Lizzy with absolute horror in her eyes.

Lizzy breathed heavily through her nose as her fists clenched at her sides. "I'm going with her," she said firmly.

"You most certainly are going," said Wickham, "and, as long as you cooperate, your dear sister will be kept quite comfortable. Or you can fight us and I can arrange for her removal from this life. Perhaps she will be reincarnated as one of your Indian friend's pets."

Lizzy knew she was playing a very dangerous game, but chose to bet on the fact that Wickham and Malfoy knew she would be impossible to control if they did not have her sister to hold over her. She was contemplating how to present her gamble of convincing Wickham she did not really care about her youngest sister, thus hoping to show the entire endeavor was not worth the effort when Lydia, apparently determined to display the great depth of her idiocy, cried out loudly for help.

In the span of the blink of an eye, Lydia was unconscious and Wickham had flung her over his shoulder. At the same time, a deep, searing pain shot up Lizzy's leg and she collapsed on the ground. She felt blood gushing out of her leg and soaking the ground beneath her. Though she struggled to see straight, she began clawing her way through the dirt, pulling herself down the path after her sister with her arms as best she could. When someone stepped on her injured leg, she could not help but scream from agony.

"Told you I'd make you pay for your insolence, Mudblood," said the cruel voice of Ursus Malfoy.

Lizzy shrieked again and beat the ground from a combination of pain, frustration, and _fear_.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Ah, more drama! A pox upon you, Wickham! And you also, Malfoy!

I make no apologies for taking longer than usual to update - was occupied by the birth of my godchild. Now things are settled on that front, I will hopefully give you chapter 36 in a reasonable amount of time... especially since I left you with a bit of a cliffie here!

Be sure to review! I'm curious as to what you think might happen...


	36. Chapter 36

Mary's eyes snapped open before she could even process she was awake. Her head ached horribly and rang with the most agonizing sound she could imagine. Did not think was possible. Lizzy, wherever she was, was crying in terror. Mary flung the covers off herself, determined to find help.

"Mary!" Kitty exclaimed in surprise as she came up the stairs. "What are you doing out of bed? You look like you'll faint at any moment!"

Mary gripped a table in the hallway to keep balance and focused on using every ounce of strength she could muster to remain upright. Her eyes slowly rolled up to focus on Kitty. "Lizzy," she gasped. "Where is she?"

"I don't know," said Kitty worriedly. "Truly, Mary, you look very ill! Please, let me help you back to bed."

Mary slapped Kitty's hands away. "Bring me Jane!" she ordered.

Kitty bit her lip and looked ready to cry, but left to fulfil her task.

Mary clumsily slipped down the wall and set her head on her knees. Kitty was entirely right. She _was _ready to faint.

"Mary?" said Kitty smally after who knew how long.

"You didn't find Jane," Mary said flatly without raising her head.

"Mrs. Hill said Mama took her out for a call to the Gouldings," Kitty said nervously. "Can I get you the medicine the apothecary brought for you? It could help."

"Absolutely _no_ more medicine!" Mary said with conviction. She raised her head to show Kitty her resolute expression. "I don't want anything further prepared in this house! Do you understand me, Kitty? _Nothing!_"

Kitty nodded, her eyes and nose beginning to run.

Mary did not have time to soothe her emotional sister. She would apologize for her rough manner later. "Papa has made you start learning to ride with the stablemaster, correct?"

Again, Kitty nodded.

"Good," said Mary, and she began pushing herself back up the wall with great effort. "Get on a horse and go with all haste to Netherfield. Bring Darcy and Bingley back here with you."

Kitty's eyes widened. "But Lizzy and Jane said I'm not supposed to – "

"They're not here right now, are they, Kitty?" Mary snarled. "Go! Now!"

Kitty yelped and scampered away. By the time Mary had managed to stumble to a window overlooking the front of the house, Kitty was speeding away. Her most immediate task accomplished, she collapsed in the hallway, unconscious.

* * *

"No, no, no! I _must_ see Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley _immediately!"_

Darcy recognized the hysterical voice easily enough and made his way down the stairs a little faster than he had planned. "Thank you, Heathcliff," he said to the butler, "I will handle this. Please resume your duties."

Heathcliff bowed to Darcy, then went on his way.

"What is the meaning of this, Kitty?" Darcy hissed, grabbing Kitty's arm and beginning to pull her toward Bingley's study.

"You and Charles have to come right away!" Kitty sobbed. "Something terrible has happened, but I don't know what! Jane's out, I can't find Lizzy or Lydia, and Mary's being so incredibly awful!"

Darcy refrained from rolling his eyes with great difficulty. In the course of the past year, he had discovered he could tolerate Lydia's wild manners with much more ease than Kitty's hypersensitive emotions. "Take a deep breath, Kitty, and tell me what is the matter," Darcy said as gently as he could, closing Bingley's study door behind them after checking the hall to make sure no servants were about.

Kitty had begun hiccupping from crying. "All I know is that Mary was _very_ insistent that I bring you and Charles back to Longbourn immediately. Please, Darcy, something is _desperately_ wrong!"

Darcy furrowed his brows. He knew Mary to be sick, so why was she giving Kitty orders at all, much less those to leave Longbourn unattended and against the express wishes of the eldest sisters? Furthermore, Mary was a very stable person. To unnerve Kitty was not a difficult task, but to put her in _this_ state required some effort that he did not believe Mary would expend with impudence.

"Wait here," Darcy said to Kitty.

"No, you have to come now!" Kitty objected.

"Charles is still above stairs," Darcy explained. "I will get him quickly and we will leave with you."

Kitty swallowed another sob and nodded.

His sense of unease rapidly growing, Darcy took the stairs two at a time.

"Mr. Darcy! I thought you must be out for a ride by now," said the sickeningly sweet voice of Caroline. "Perhaps you might wait for me to have my horse saddled and I can join you."

"Certainly not," said Darcy. An unpleasantly tight feeling had come over his chest, depriving him of any patience, especially where Caroline was concerned. He burst into Bingley's room without knocking.

"For God's sake, Darcy, I – "

"Something is wrong with the Bennets," said Darcy. "Kitty is waiting for us downstairs. We must go."

Bingley made a mess of his cravat, jammed his feet into his boots, and hurried back down with Darcy. They collected Kitty and exited the house.

"You rode bareback?" Darcy asked Kitty incredulously.

"Mary said not to waste time," Kitty explained. She prepared to clamber back onto the bare beast, but Darcy grabbed her and settled her on his own saddle, then swung up behind her. By this point, his anxiety was so great he spared not a single thought for Muggle proprieties.

"Hill, where is Mary?" Kitty asked breathlessly after leaping down from Darcy's stallion without waiting for assistance.

"Miss Mary fainted in the hallway," said Hill, looking skeptically at Darcy as the man dismounted. "Sarah and Milly have only just gotten her back into bed and sent for her medicinal tea to be brewed."

"NO!" Kitty exclaimed, then rushed into the house.

Darcy and Bingley exchanged a quick glance, then moved hurriedly to follow Kitty. Again disregarding propriety, they went up to the family rooms and looked into the open door where Kitty was arguing with one of the maids.

"She does not want it!" Kitty squealed desperately.

"No one ever wants to take their medicine, Miss Kitty," said the maid patiently, poised over a sleeping Mary with a spoon and cup. "It is what is best for her."

As the maid moved to spoon some liquid into Mary's mouth, Kitty rushed forward with a scream and knocked the cup onto the floor, spilling its contents and shattering the ceramic.

"I said _no!" _Kitty stated in the firmest tones Darcy had ever heard from her. "Leave us!"

Looking thoroughly scandalized, the maid exited.

"Mary!" Kitty called, shaking her sister. "Mary! They are here! Wake up!"

"Why does Mary not want to take her medicine?" Bingley asked, stepping cautiously into the room to avoid crushing any of the shards into smaller fragments.

"I don't know," Kitty groaned frustratedly. "She said she did not want to have _anything_ made at Longbourn. She was very insistent!"

Darcy bent down and grabbed a broken piece that still boasted a few drops of liquid. He smelled it and, very cautiously, tasted a little from his finger, then spat it out with a disgusted grimace.

"What is it?" Bingley asked anxiously as Darcy repeated the tasting process.

"Some monstrous concoction that most certainly was _not_ prepared by Meryton's apothecary," Darcy answered. He could not quite identify all the elements he was tasting, but knew well enough that they were not combined lightly or by happenstance. He drew his wand, pointed it at Mary, and whispered, _"Enneverate!"_

Mary woke immediately, eyes wide with panic, and shoved herself up in her bed. "You did not let them give me anything, Kitty, did you?"

"No!" Kitty said quickly. "And look, I've brought Darcy and Charles!"

Darcy stepped to Mary's bedside immediately. "What – "

"Lizzy is in danger," Mary said without preamble. "I don't know where she is or what happened, but I am _certain_ she is in terrible trouble. You have to find her, and quickly!"

"Beggin' your pardon, Miss, but Miss Lizzy went out to town with Miss Lydia two hours past," said a footman that had, evidently, been sent to deal with Kitty by the maid she had evicted.

"Just the two of them?" Darcy demanded. Surely Elizabeth would not have behaved so recklessly!

"Yessir," said the footman.

"Kitty, do _not_ leave the house under _any_ circumstance! Stay with Mary!" Bingley said firmly to the girl, who nodded dutifully, and then he and Darcy scuttled from the house.

"I will take the path through the woods," said Darcy as he leapt onto his horse. "You take the main roads. We meet back here in an hour."

Bingley responded with a nod before digging his heels into his steed.

The tight feeling in Darcy's chest continued to grow the longer he searched until his breath only came in short gasps. _Where was Elizabeth?_

Just as Darcy had been preparing to turn around to meet Bingley, he saw something that made his heart stop entirely. There, just off the path, was a strip of fabric he recognized as being from one of Elizabeth's dresses caught in a bush. Nearby was a random bit of mud that, when he investigated, Darcy found to be made of blood.

He vomited violently in the bushes.

* * *

"You are certain there was nothing to trace?" Jane asked fearfully, wringing her hands in Longbourn's parlor. She, with Bingley, Darcy, Kitty, and a very gaunt looking Mary, had locked herself into the room after sending Mrs. Bennet on a fool's errand to the kitchen. She would smooth whatever upset Mrs. Bennet caused with the kitchen staff later. Now, she needed answers.

"Whoever took them must have had portkeys or disapparated," said Bingley dismally.

Darcy stared blankly ahead as the conversation swirled around him. After casting up everything he could have possibly consumed in the past twenty-four hours, he had struggled back to his horse and retrieved Bingley. The pair had investigated the site and found nothing promising. He wound the fabric that had been left behind absentmindedly through his fingers. Elizabeth hated this dress slightly less than many of her others.

How could she have been so very foolish? How could she have left Longbourn without telling anyone? Without waiting for him, or Bingley, or Jane to go with her?

She was not thinking clearly, Darcy reasoned after jumping up from his seat and making his way to the window to stare out it. Elizabeth had not been herself since returning from India, and he could hardly blame her. She was the only functioning sane person in the house, as Jane was being dragged to this place and that place, and Mary had been indisposed. She had likely just wanted to get away, or to stop Lydia from whining. He should have gone over to Longbourn to support her.

"Stop it, Darcy!"

Darcy whipped around and looked at Mary in surprise.

"To quote Lizzy, 'The path you are traveling down leads to madness.' If there is blame to be had, it is certainly not by you!" Mary declared.

"You heard his thoughts!" Jane exclaimed.

"You're all quite loud at the moment," said Mary. She turned to Darcy again. "I was being fed some sort of potion, wasn't I? It interfered with my abilities?"

Darcy had not investigated the matter enough to be able to say exactly _what_ Mary had been given, but was confident enough in his initial observances to nod.

"How are we going to get them back?" Kitty asked, handkerchief in hand.

"Darcy and I will leave for London at first light tomorrow," said Bingley. "Lizzy and Lydia are certainly no longer in Hertfordshire. London will be a better place to search. Once they've been found, we'll return and quell any gossip with mine and Jane's wedding."

"I will tell Mama we've decided to stop fighting her and let her do whatever she wants for the wedding," said Jane. "That will buy us a week of time, at least."

"No," said Mary.

"No?" Bingley asked incredulously.

"No," Mary repeated.

"Pray, explain yourself, Mary," said Jane, uncharacteristically irritated.

"You will get married exactly as you planned," Mary said calmly. "We will tell everyone in Meryton that Charles found an estate he might like to purchase, but the matter is very time sensitive. He sent Lizzy to see if it might be appropriate for his bride, her sister. Lydia, we will say, has come down with the same thing that has been ailing me."

"I will not be married without Lizzy to stand up with me!" Jane declared with a red tinge in her cheeks.

"Yes, you will," Mary countered without raising her voice. "Once you've wed, the lot of us will all go to London, where Kitty and I will be much safer and you three will have many more resources available to you. Besides, Lizzy would never forgive you if she were to learn you delayed the wedding on her behalf."

"Mary is right," Darcy said before Jane or Bingley could object. All eyes turned to him. Such were the first words he had said aloud since finding the bloody mud and Elizabeth's torn dress. "Proceeding with the wedding is the best thing we can do. Going to London immediately is not a wise decision, anyway. We would be absolutely clueless where to begin. We need to gather evidence here, first."

"They are not here, Darcy!" Bingley objected.

"Presently, no," Darcy answered. He felt as though he were watching the scene from outside his body. He was entirely numb. Pure logic was spewing from his mouth. His emotions had given up. "It stands to reason, however, that Elizabeth and her family were observed here. Mary was drugged so she could not hear the thoughts of those around her. The kidnappers waited on the path to Meryton that Elizabeth most often takes. They knew she and Lydia were alone. I would bet good money they are aware of the wedding and used such to their advantage. With so many people coming for the celebrations, who would take note of an unfamiliar face? No, we need to gather evidence here before proceeding to London."

"How can you be so cavalier about all this?" Bingley burst. "You claim to love this woman, for heaven's sake, and yet you refuse to go after her immediately!"

Darcy was not quite sure how it happened, but he found himself with his hands gripping Bingley's lapels as he shoved his good friend into a wall. "I seem calm, _Charles_," he shouted with such ferocity his throat ached, "because I shall go absolutely insane and be no use to _anyone_ if I give in to the fears trying to gain control of my mind!"

"Darcy," said Mary lowly, placing a gentle hand on Darcy's forearm after several moments of tense silence, "let him go."

Horrified by his actions, Darcy released Bingley and stepped back into a corner, staring at his hands that had acted so rashly without his permission.

"We are all upset, and rightly so," said Mary. Though she barely spoke above a whisper, everyone heard her quite clearly. "Fighting isn't going to help us. Darcy's got the right of it. We have to put our emotions aside, difficult as that may be, and think about what is going to be most helpful to _Lizzy and Lydia_."

Jane took several deep breaths, exchanged expressions with Bingley, and then approached her middle sister. "Mary, would you please stand up with me at my wedding in three days?"

* * *

The very first opportunity they had, the newly wedded Bingleys, the two remaining Bennet girls, and Darcy all loaded up into a carriage and sped out of Meryton. As soon as they reached the inn just outside town, they traded the horses for Darcy's thestrals and took off for London.

"I have contacted my cousin, Major Fitzwilliam, to see what news has reached the Ministry," said Darcy after a solid half hour of no one saying anything. "Elizabeth's disappearance was not reported until just yesterday, and the auror that checked on her last before that has not shown up to work since."

"Paid off or killed off, do you think?" Mary asked rather callously.

"One option is just as likely as the other," Darcy replied. "Fitzwilliam agrees with me that, while the Ministry should know that Elizabeth and Lydia have been stolen, we cannot trust them to resolve the matter. Either Wickham or Malfoy is horrifying enough. Combined, the two of them have enough connections to sway an investigation in their favor." He thought it the greatest travesty in the world the two had come upon each other and conspired together.

Interrogation of Mrs. Philips and Kitty had provided the information that Wickham had returned to Meryton for a few days while Elizabeth was away, claiming to have sold his commission. Mrs. Philips, who had appreciated the scoundrel's open manners, had invited him and his friend, introduced as Randal Smith, to tea. She had hosted them again once she had taken on Kitty and Lydia for a few days while Mrs. Bennet went with Jane to London for her daughter's trousseau. Smith, whose description in physicality and mannerisms was as good as identical to Malfoy, had not attended that time, but Wickham had made quite a good impression on the youngest Bennets. Before he left, he had asked his presence be withheld from the older girls so he could surprise his "friends" when Elizabeth returned. Lydia had offered her services, and Kitty had promised to keep quiet.

Mrs. Philips, at the conclusion of questioning, had said there must just be some terrible misunderstanding. Kitty had been inconsolable over her role in the affair for hours. Darcy had consumed more brandy than was strictly necessary.

"But you told me they've both been proclaimed dishonorable," said Kitty with innocence and belief in justice that would have been adorable if it were not so pitiable. "Malfoy was disowned by his family! Surely no one wants anything to do with either of them!"

"There are other things, Kitty, that can motivate a person to side with such people as Wickham and Malfoy," Mary explained.

"What did Fitzwilliam suggest?" Bingley asked, his new wife's hand clasped firmly in his own.

"He recommended staying within the law as much as possible without trusting it," said Darcy. He felt a great deal of sorrow that what should have been a very happy day for the newly minted Bingleys was, instead, swathed in stress and fear.

"Have you a plan?" Jane asked.

"Half a plan," Darcy answered. "The half that I have yet to solidify depends on several factors that I will not know with certainty until we reach London." He had written a multitude of letters and had high hopes of receiving answers in the form of visitors.

Everyone was so somber and reflective, quite inappropriate moods for a wedding day, that not another word was said until the carriage started to descend in the dead of night.

Darcy stayed in his carriage while the Bingleys and Bennets disembarked. Upon coming to his own stables, he was encouraged to see candlelight behind several of the windows of his house.

Darcy came in through a servant's entrance and went directly to his study. He smiled in grim satisfaction to see Solveig, dressed in such a way as he was sure terrified his staff, looking out his window. As soon as he stepped over the threshold, however, she whipped around toward him with her wand raised.

"Good evening," Darcy said, nonplussed, and made his way to his chair.

Solveig greeted Darcy in her language, then pulled at the braid into which she had woven Elizabeth's hair a week previous.

"Yes, Elizabeth is in danger."

Though Solveig spoke no English, she understood well enough. She beat her wand twice over her heart and the magical tool grew and shifted until she held a formidable double-edged battle axe.

Darcy could not help but smile. His beloved certainly knew how to choose friends.

* * *

"See, Lizzy, the thing is that you're _going_ to duel for us," said Wickham in a frustratingly patient manner. "There's really no two ways about it."

"Not until you let me see Lydia," Lizzy insisted. _Days_ had passed. She had not slept in the same place twice. Or pretended to sleep, anyway. She had not been able to bathe. She had not been able to touch her wand. The fact that she had, therefore, skipped her animagus incantation at least four times was the least of her worries. Lydia was being kept away from her, and she did not trust the assurances of the murderous kidnappers before her when they said Lydia was alive and well.

"Our unknowing accomplice is fine," said Wickham.

"Or she will be, assuming you don't say something else stupid right now," Malfoy spat.

Lizzy swallowed her rage with great difficulty. What she would not give for her wand, or even a sword. She was by no means competent with the weapon, but she thought she could manage to gut Malfoy or Wickham well enough.

"There's a smart girl," said Wickham condescendingly. "Now, tonight is just a small demonstration. You're going to take a bit of Polyjuice before we bring you out to the ring, and you'll use a different wand."

"You can't expect me to perform credibly with an unfamiliar wand without practice," Lizzy snorted.

"And you can't expect us to trust you with your own," said Wickham. "You're rather at a disadvantage here, Lizzy, so I suggest you simply accept your fate."

Lizzy bit her tongue until she knew it was on the verge of bleeding. Wickham had told her of the plan he and Malfoy had made, though she was confident he had not told her all. Such would be foolish and, though Wickham was many things, foolish was not one of them.

Wickham and Malfoy were both strapped for cash. Desperately. And so Lizzy would fight in dueling pits under a variety of disguises while they collected on bets. Once they were satisfied, they would release her and Lydia. Being thrown into the dueling pits, Lizzy did not doubt. Being let go, she did.

She continually told herself to take things one step at a time. Her opportunity would come, or Darcy would. Either way, Lizzy was not going to accept her fate without one hell of a fight.

* * *

Two days later saw Darcy hosting a conference in his dining room consisting of the Bingleys, Mary, Fitzwilliam, Sophia, Phoebe, Josephine, Zebulon, Solveig, and Josiah, who had brought along his friend and colleague Erik. Erik, quite conveniently, was born of Nordic parents that had insisted he learn the language. Such enabled Solveig to communicate with the rest of the party.

Darcy had invited Kobina, but the man was unable to come because his daughter was sick and his wife's uncle was at death's door. Kobina did, however, send a pair of spears his brother had crafted. Darcy accepted Kobina's devotion to his family as a perfectly reasonable excuse and, though he appreciated the gift of the spears, did not think they would be the best of weapons to use. Fitzwilliam and Solveig, warriors they were, appreciated the spears thoroughly, however.

Albert had tried his best to be available, but he had already donned his uniform and his superiors refused to let him go anywhere. Silas had left for his Grand Tour the day after graduating Hogwarts and was unreachable. Higgins was underage and so Darcy had left him alone.

Bavishni had come, and with a great deal more fanfare than Darcy had expected. She was, he learned, a princess of her people and had kept such secret throughout the competition. As royalty of a nation so closely tied to Britain, she commanded a great deal of respect, which she proved she was not afraid to wield as a frightful weapon.

Darcy had only ever seen Bavishni be pleasant and personable. When she arrived in the most elaborate sari he was sure existed, he had been floored. When two Ministry representatives had arrived just after her to pay their respects on behalf of Minister Fudge and to offer assistance, she had imperiously turned them away without leaving them in doubt of her wish to be left alone. Darcy had been positively in awe. Yes, his beloved _definitely_ knew how to choose her friends.

Strategy was discussed at length.

It was eventually decided that Darcy would visit all of Wickham's old haunts to gather whatever information he could. Fitzwilliam would do the same for Malfoy, though he would have to be remarkably careful since he was supposed to have cut of ties with Malfoy along with the rest of his family.

Jane and Bingley would take Mary to every large event they could possibly get into, much to Mary's dismay, in the hopes that Mary might catch a hint of Lizzy and Lydia's whereabouts, if not hear the girls themselves.

Bavishni would spend most of her time at the Ministry. Her father had business he wanted accomplished anyway, which provided her a most convenient cover while she searched out who might be aiding Wickham and Malfoy.

Erik would take Solveig into the seedy underside of the British magical world. She would draw less attention in such places, and someone had to go, anyway, since it was a very likely place for Wickham, at least, to show up. It would take them time to prove disreputable enough to get into places such as the pits, but they were up for the job.

Sophia and Josiah agreed to go take up work in Meryton to prevent any other family members from disappearing and to be present on the _very_ slim chance that either Lizzy or Lydia resurfaced.

Zebulon would employ his likeable personality and use his connections throughout Diagon Alley to see if he could find a financial trace of Wickham or Malfoy. The pair had clearly plotted out the escapade with a disappointing amount of forethought, and so had to have purchased a variety of supplies.

Josephine and Phoebe agreed to navigate social channels. Phoebe would set up a vast deal of calls with their friends that had met Wickham in Hogsmeade to see if they might gather hints of his plans. Josephine, who possessed more tact and whose family was better thought of by many pureblood snobs, would carefully go about doing the same for Malfoy.

Once the meeting had adjourned, Darcy went to Matlock House with his cousin where he was greeted by Georgiana holding Menace. The girl had been thrilled to be trusted with the care of the cat when Elizabeth went away to compete. The plan had been for Darcy to retrieve Menace and return him to Elizabeth after the Bingley wedding.

Upon seeing Darcy's eyes lock onto the cat as if it was a lifeline, Fitzwilliam skillfully got his parents out of the room without arousing too much suspicion. Lord and Lady Matlock knew what was going on – indeed, Lord Matlock had been assisting Bavishni as much as he possibly could – but Darcy had had enough for the day.

"Have you come to take Menace back to Lizzy?" Georgiana asked. Since beginning to meet regularly with Irene Gardiner, she had progressed in leaps and bounds. The benefits of interacting with an innocent girl of her own age were undeniable and extensive. "I took good care of him, just like she asked!"

Darcy lowered himself to his knees and held his hands out. Georgiana gave over Menace, and Darcy put the cat on the ground after stroking it a few times. "No, dearest, I have not come for Menace," he tried to say in his normal voice. "He shall stay with you a little longer."

"Does Lizzy not want him back?" Georgiana asked anxiously, threatening to revert to the terrified creature she had been for nearly two years.

"No, no," Darcy quickly soothed. "She misses Menace a great deal. She just cannot take care of him right now. She is – she is still away." He could not, would not tell Georgiana what had happened. It would break her, and he could not handle it.

"Are you sad, William?" Georgiana asked, grabbing her brother's face with her tiny hands.

"Yes," Darcy breathed, and he nearly started weeping then and there. "I miss Elizabeth very much."

"It is alright to be sad," Georgiana said as sagely as a six-year-old could. "Irene says her mama tells her that often."

Darcy quickly hugged his sister to his chest so she would not see the tears spill from his eyes.

* * *

In the pits, battles were half fought with a wand and half fought with one's fists.

Lizzy spat a mouthful of blood off to the side and wiped her lips off with her sleeve. In that moment, she _hated_ herself. She _hated_ how hard she tried. She _hated _taking Polyjuice and dueling under a different face every night. She _hated_ that her opponent lay in the dirt and dust while the spectators watched, laughed, and exchanged money. She _hated_ that she would do it all again tomorrow. She _hated_ that her seeing Lydia was dependent on her winning five duels straight.

"My fighter wins again!" Wickham cried boisterously. He, too, partook of Polyjuice nightly. Presently, he had sandy colored hair and a narrow face. "Who dares face the Bejeweled Pixie on the morrow?"

More than almost anything else, Lizzy _hated_, with a burning passion, the fact that Wickham and Malfoy had discovered her emerald loaded with such promise and memory and polluted it with their greed and deceit. She _hated_ that it made her feel hopeless and doubt everything the jewel represented to her.

"That was five," Lizzy said the moment she was behind a closed door with her captors. Wickham, being a more slippery and initially pleasing personality, usually took charge of the social aspects of descending into the pits while Malfoy lurked in the background to prevent trouble or stayed back entirely and checked on Lydia. "Where is Lydia?"

"That was only four, Lizzy, dear," said Wickham.

"Any _child_ could tell you that a fight a day from Saturday to now makes _five_," Lizzy snarled.

"Saturday was only a demonstration, oh patient one. It doesn't count," said Wickham. And he left.

"Clean up, _Pixie_," Malfoy spat, throwing a wet rag at Lizzy. "Tight schedule to keep."

On the occasion that Lizzy was provided something to eat, she usually found she could not manage to do so. It was not the quality of the food, which barely deserved the distinction, but the fact that she was so full of rage she had little room in her stomach for anything else. Now, that anger roiled and threatened to come out onto Malfoy's dragon-skin shoes that had a hole in the sole.

Lizzy took the rag and, as she wiped off her hands and face, surprised herself by wondering if it would fit around Malfoy's neck.

* * *

**Author's Note**

AHHHH! SO MUCH UNHAPPINESS!

I originally did not plan on having anything to do with Bavishni or Solveig (especially Solveig) after the dueling competition, but I liked the characters so much I wove them into more of the plot. I hope you're happy to see them again... or as happy as you can be, considering the circumstances of their reappearances.

Please accept my apology for the long wait (again). I had to do the thing where I move approximately 400 miles away... with less than a week to figure out life. (:

Let me know what you thought of this update!


	37. Chapter 37

"This is the break we have been waiting for!"

Darcy, who had been divesting himself of his outer clothes as though his limbs were made of lead, perked up considerably at hearing Bavishni's cry. He had not seen her in two days as she was staying at a fashionable hotel to keep appearances. He left a trail of items behind him as he bounded into his study. "Break?" he demanded. "What break?"

It had been very, very tempting for Darcy to allow himself to descend into utter despair with each passing day. He had not seen his beloved in over a week. He was often forcefully reminded of the agonies he had experienced when Georgiana was missing, and indeed there were many similarities to the wretched experiences. With Georgiana, however, he had been weaker, given into despair and hopelessness on multiple occasions. If not for Fitzwilliam, he might have succumbed entirely.

Elizabeth had built him up, however, and showed him, by example and non-example, that it was no weakness to ask for help from friends. Were it not for such a lesson, Darcy thought he may well have drank himself to death by now. He certainly would not have a possible break in finding his beloved.

"Solveig and Erik have found Lizzy!" Bavishni exclaimed.

Every muscle poised to run out of the room with the correct combination of words, Darcy turned to face the Nordic descendants.

"Not sure," Solveig said clumsily. She had been making great efforts to begin speaking English since her arrival.

Face beginning to fall and chest growing intolerably tight, Darcy looked to Erik.

"It the pits, fighters are bought, sold, and traded, their value dictated by their record," Erik started. "Solveig's been making it known she wants a fresh and fierce fighter to take back to Norway with her since we were invited three days ago. Today, it was recommended she consider someone known as the Bejeweled Pixie. No one is certain what the Pixie looks like. Fighter and handlers all come with different faces each night. Rumors have started that the handlers plan on selling off the Pixie once it wins a few more fights, increasing in value."

Darcy felt as though he was covered in grime just from hearing the description of such a sordid practice.

"The Bejeweled Pixie _must_ be Lizzy!" said Bavishni. She tapped the elaborate arrangement of stones in her own nose repeatedly as she continued. "I saw her get her jewel, myself! And she is tiny and fierce enough to be called a pixie."

Darcy fell into a chair, lightheaded. He was simultaneously filled with hope and dread. It was entirely possible that someone under such a moniker could be Elizabeth. She was, quite possibly, within his grasp. And yet, was this really the life his beloved had been made to suffer through? The possibility of such caused his chest to ache acutely, and he started rubbing his sternum in effort to find relief.

"Jane and Charles need to be told," Darcy said, interrupting the conversation that had continued without him.

"Of course," said Bavishni. "They went to see Mr. Bennet at the Gardiners'. Jane says he is not well."

Darcy sighed and shook his head. Indeed, Mr. Bennet was not at all well. The man was shedding weight like a cat sheds fur, and he grew paler every day that passed without news of his daughters. "We cannot tell him. Not until we are certain."

"He is her father!" Bavishni heatedly objected.

"And he is weak enough already," said Darcy determinedly. "I will not give him hope only to have it ripped from under his feet. I worry he will not survive such." Though he did not say it aloud, he was not fond of the idea of eventually greeting his beloved with the news that her father had died of a broken heart.

"If you financially back Solveig, we might have Lizzy returned as soon as tomorrow night," said Erik sensibly.

Darcy grit his teeth and gripped the arm of his chair until he thought either it or his fingers must break. "We cannot save Elizabeth until we know about Lydia," he said with great difficulty. He had dedicated extensive thought to the subject and, while his emotions said one thing, logic demanded another. Elizabeth was within his grasp, but Lydia remained in the clutches of Wickham and Malfoy and he had no clue where they had her. He had to get both sisters together, or one would be lost forever.

Solveig scoffed something to Erik, who objected to whatever she said. A few more exchanges saw them glaring in opposite directions with their arms crossed firmly.

"Dare I ask?" Darcy said flatly.

"Solveig says Lydia is destined for an early death anyway, fool that she is," Erik said bitterly.

Darcy found he could not be upset with Solveig, as part of him agreed wholeheartedly and found the idea of leaving Lydia to her cruel fate all too appealing. The other, more insistent part of him, knew how very much the girl meant to his beloved, and was able to recall several happy memories of the youngest Bennet gathered throughout the year. Angry though he was with the girl, Darcy still loved her as his beloved's sister and his _hopefully _future one. He sighed and said, "Elizabeth would never forgive any of us for rescuing her if it meant losing Lydia.

"Tell Solveig that money is no object," Darcy said as he rose from his seat. "She may bid whatever is necessary to get Elizabeth. But tell her to say she wants collateral to make sure the 'Bejeweled Pixie' will stay in line." Darcy rather wanted to vomit after saying as much but managed to refrain. Aside from being surrounded by guests, he had not been able to eat all day and had grown quite tired of tasting bile. "Perhaps that will convince Wickham and Malfoy to bring Lydia out into the open."

* * *

"This is _not_ what we agreed to!" Lizzy snarled as Wickham tossed floo powder into the fire he had started.

"You will see Lydia, as promised," said Wickham with a shrug. "It seems to me terms are being met fully."

Lizzy pulled at her hair and was perversely thankful for the cut on her scalp that stole her attention away from her despondency at having been tricked so horribly.

"Lizzy?"

Instantly, Lizzy forgot every terrible thing around her and fell in front of the grate to greet her sister. "Lydia! Oh, I am so glad to see you!"

"Lizzy, I'm so sorry!" Lydia burst and began crying.

Lizzy desperately wished she could crawl through the fire to take her little sister in her arms. "Enough of that," she said firmly instead. "Are you well?"

Lydia sniffed heartily and regained some control of herself. "Well enough," she said. "I hate it here. I'm not allowed to talk with the other girls, it sounds like a herd of pigs comes through every night, and – "

Lydia's face suddenly disappeared and Wickham put the fire out.

"_No!"_ Lizzy cried desperately and pounded the floor with her fist as a toddler throwing a fit might. She was so frustrated at her time with Lydia being cut so short she could not even muster the energy to hate herself for beginning to sob.

"Get up," said Wickham through clenched teeth.

Lizzy said and did nothing in response. When Wickham pulled her up by her hair, however she could not help but cry out.

Oh, how she loathed him!

"Get dressed," said Wickham, throwing yet another set of robes at Lizzy that would not fit her true form. "We're heading to the pits early today."

When left alone with the robes and prepared Polyjuice potion, Lizzy considered throwing the flask into the fireplace in retribution. It brought her savage pleasure. Then she thought of how sunken in Lydia's eyes had looked. She changed, took the potion, and called Wickham back in.

As Wickham crudely greeted his friends from the underworld and began collecting bets, Lizzy pondered what little Lydia had said to keep herself occupied. The abrupt end to their conversation must mean Lydia had said something of import. It took Lizzy's scattered mind several minutes longer to figure out just what kind of place Lydia had described, and she burned with fresh rage.

Lydia, her eleven-year-old sister, was being kept at a brothel.

Lizzy was only able to come to such a horrifying conclusion because she had been made to stay in such an establishment twice since being kidnapped. On such nights, she had not slept at all, but curled herself into a corner with her fingers plugged firmly in her ears.

She took solace in the fact that Lydia, being younger, louder, more impulsive, and of less value, would likely not be moved by her captors. The effort was not worth the risk of discovery. Such put Lizzy on a slightly higher level than she had been on before. Perhaps, if she was allowed to speak to Lydia again, she might be able to ask the girl some seemingly innocuous questions that could reveal more details about her location.

Lizzy was so focused on her new plan of action that she _almost_ managed to miss the tall blonde woman with elaborate braids and a fur cloak across the room.

_Solveig!_

Lizzy was flooded with immense relief and hope. Darcy had called reinforcements, the wonderful, wonderful man! He had not given up on her, nor isolated himself in his efforts to recover her, but asked for help. All she had to do was play her cards right and bide her time. If she could manage to write a few words and slip them to Solveig, her friend would be sure to pass it on to Darcy, and he would turn every brothel in London upside down until finding Lydia. _Then_ Lizzy could let loose on Wickham and Malfoy.

How could she manage to get a message to Solveig in time? The location of the pits changed every few days, and there was no guarantee that the new location would have the same people, and certainly not the same faces. Wickham and Malfoy were far from the only people that took precautions regarding their true identities. Attempting to communicate with Solveig was risky. To not do so was unthinkable.

"Noticed her, have you?" Wickham said when he saw Lizzy staring at Solveig. "I hope you like her," he said with a cruel smile. Lizzy rather imagined that Wickham thought her horrified by Solveig's fierce and 'feral' appearance. "You just might be spending a good deal of time with her in the future."

Lizzy found it difficult to make the features she bore reflect disgust rather than eagerness. Had they been her own, she might not have succeeded.

Eventually, Solveig made her way over to where Lizzy stood with Wickham. It was difficult for Lizzy to practice the strict orders she had been given to keep her face down and not speak with anyone. If she just reached out her hand, she could tug the braid on Solveig's head that held a lock of her own hair. Solveig, she knew, would understand the gesture.

Solveig's voice rang with authority as she spoke in her native tongue. A voice Lizzy did not recognize translated.

"My mistress asks if you are the keeper of the Bejeweled Pixie," said the voice.

Lizzy wondered vaguely about the statement. Did Solveig happen to have a servant that spoke English, or was this simply someone Darcy had found and hired for the express purpose of allowing Solveig to communicate?

"At your service," said Wickham smoothly. Lizzy noticed he made to move as if to take Solveig's hand and kiss it, but her warrior of a friend used that hand to grasp Wickham's throat, instead. She heard Solveig growl.

"My mistress does not like to be touched," said the translator mildly.

"Noted," Wickham said tightly. He gasped upon being released. "What can I do for your mistress?"

"She has interest in acquiring a fighter to bring back to her home. She believes the Pixie might suit her needs."

Lizzy felt a flutter of panic. She had heard several mentions of various people wanting to buy her off Wickham or Malfoy, and such an idea never became easier to stomach. The pair were horrible, true enough, but they were familiar to Darcy, and he would be looking for them. If they sold her off, she could very well become lost, and God only knew what would happen to Lydia.

"And from where does your mistress hail?" Wickham asked. "Are there no fighters she might acquire there?"

"My mistress has been greatly wronged by a member of her clan and seeks to regain honor by way of a champion," said the translator. "They have agreed that neither fighter be a member of any clan of their people, as the fight will be to the death and they do not want their own blood shed over the matter. As the matter is of such import to my mistress, she is willing to spend quite the fortune to acquire her champion and is very willing to offer you a fair price."

Lizzy bit her tongue to keep from snorting. The whole tale was utter nonsense. Though she knew little enough about Solveig's people and traditions, she was entirely confident that any disagreement amongst them would be handled _very_ personally, with no proxies involved. The lies appealed to Wickham, however, and he swallowed them whole.

"Well, if money is truly no object, I just might have what your mistress is looking for," said Wickham silkily. "Would your mistress care to sit by me as the Pixie duels tonight?"

Solveig spoke in her own language again, and Lizzy was pleased to note that the sounds made Wickham anxious.

"My mistress says she will fight the Pixie, herself."

Wickham vehemently objected without thought.

"My mistress says this is the only way she can know, for certain, if the Bejeweled Pixie is strong enough to fight in a battle held by her people," the translator said. He kept up a running record as Solveig continued. "She says that if you are so reluctant to have the Pixie go against her because she is sober, the Pixie must not be all the stories have led her to believe. She will find another fighter."

"No, no, no!" Wickham exclaimed. He reached out as if to stop Solveig turning away, but thought better of it. Lizzy knew he would not let such a very convenient way of disposing of her slip through his fingers. If he believed the given story, she would either wind up dead or stuck in a very disadvantaged situation in such a far off place she would certainly never be able to make her way back. "Let us discuss the terms of the duel."

As Wickham and the translator began haggling, Lizzy risked glancing at Solveig through her eyelashes. Her friend's face was set like stone and, had Lizzy not had a previous acquaintance with the woman, she would have been petrified for her future.

"If you make a mess of this," said Wickham tightly, holding Lizzy's upper arm with an iron-clad grip that was sure to bruise as he shoved her through the crowd, "you will _never_ see Lydia again, and I will make sure she suffers cruelly."

"Like you did the Millers and Robertsons?" Lizzy snarled on impulse.

"You're right, I _should_ leave her to Malfoy's imagination," said Wickham with a sneer. "I wanted to poison his staff. It was Malfoy that said we should go after the tenants. How did Darcy dearest take it?"

Lizzy dug her nails into her robes to keep from clawing into Wickham's neck. She and Darcy had thought the heinous crime to be the work of one of them. Now she had confirmation that it was both.

Fifteen minutes later, Lizzy took her place across Solveig. People called all sorts of crude comments and exchanged last minute bets, but Lizzy took no notice. She had seen Solveig duel, and Solveig had seen her, but they had never actually fought each other. Would Solveig truly put her best foot forward, or was this whole duel a farce? Did Lizzy need to win, or did Solveig?

Lizzy's philosophizing ended abruptly when, as soon as the moderator called for the duel to begin, Solveig began a vicious offensive. Lizzy quickly adjusted to the idea that she and her friend would appease the crowd by showing no mercy to each other and let her training take over.

As typically happened in the pits when things got heated enough between the fighters, wands just did not cut it. Lizzy dodged several kicks and punches, took a few, and landed a narrow number. Eventually, Solveig hit her with a particularly potent fist to the gut. While Lizzy doubled over from the shock to her system, Solveig put her in a choke hold.

"Lydia?" Solveig said quietly and urgently into Lizzy's ear.

"Brothel," Lizzy said through her teeth. It was the only thing she knew she needed to say, and she was doubtful Solveig would be able to retain many more words given in a foreign tongue, anyway. Crucial information passed, Lizzy put her wand to Solveig's elbow and cast a powerful Stinging Hex, earning her freedom.

"Lose," Solveig told Lizzy when next they were close enough as to not arouse the suspicion of the crowd.

Lizzy wasted little time in following Solveig's orders. She was in such a battered state that she did not think anyone would believe she failed to shield herself from Solveig's Stunner on purpose.

"What does your mistress think?" Lizzy heard Wickham ask eagerly. She had been left immobile on the floor.

The translator conferred with Solveig for a moment, then told Wickham, "My mistress says your fighter is strong and is disposed in favor of buying the Pixie from you."

"Then let us talk price," Wickham suggested. Lizzy could imagine him rubbing his hands together greedily. If the deal went through, not only would his pockets be lined with a thick layer of cash, but Lizzy would be whisked off to some faraway land where she would be made to fight to the death. Yes, Solveig provided him quite a pretty little escape.

"My mistress will observe the Pixie for several more nights to determine just what kind of money would be a fair value," said the translator.

"Several more nights?" Wickham objected. "But she said she could determine the Pixie's value by fighting her, herself!"

"It was a factor in the decision, but not the only one," said the translator carelessly. Solveig's voice sounded before he spoke again. "My mistress demands you tend to the Pixie now. She does not want her possible investment to be damaged for lack of care."

By the time Wickham had revived Lizzy and pulled her up out of the filth on the floor, Solveig had disappeared with her translator.

* * *

Darcy sat at his desk with his head in his hands. Disbelief, horror, and pained hope all fought to control him as he processed the tale Erik and Solveig told. Elizabeth was alive. Elizabeth was in London. Elizabeth could be returned to him at almost any moment now. If only Lydia could be found.

"Where did she say Lydia was?" Darcy said to the polished surface of his desk.

"Brothel," Solveig answered when Erik repeated the question for her.

Darcy slammed both his fists onto his desk. "Damn Wickham to hell!" he shouted. He shoved himself out of his seat and went toe to toe with Solveig. "What else did she say?"

"She said nothing else," said Solveig through Erik. "There was not the time."

"Does Elizabeth look much the same as _you_ now?" Darcy spat venomously, gesturing vaguely to the random cuts and bruises Solveig had acquired since he saw her last.

A lesser woman would have become angry or fearful at Darcy's manner, but Solveig softened and patted Darcy's cheek comfortingly. "She is strong," Solveig said in her thick accent.

Darcy spun away from his guests before he could lose his composure and went for the door. "Thank you for all your help," he managed to say before leaving. He could not waste time on the next step; there was no guarantee that, when the pits moved, Erik and Solveig would be invited to the new location. It had taken them long enough to find the current one.

"Darcy!" Jane exclaimed in surprise when the man entered her parlor close to midnight. "Is there news? Have you found them?"

"I have a lead," Darcy said vaguely. "Where is Mary?"

"She's been asleep at least an hour now," said Jane. "She found the opera excessively trying."

"Please fetch her, Mrs. Bingley," said Darcy. "I need to speak with her immediately."

Jane, mollified by use of her new title and understanding of the desperate nature of the situation, left to wake her sister without offering an objection.

Having been notified by his staff of Darcy's arrival, Bingley bounded into the parlor. "What news?" he asked eagerly.

Darcy forestalled Bingley's further demands and exclamations with a gesture of his hand.

Several tense and uncomfortable minutes passed before Jane returned with Mary.

Darcy immediately went to stand before Mary and thought through his plan. He saw various emotions flicker through her eyes as he did so, the final one being resignation.

"I'll do it," Mary said solemnly.

"Do what?" Jane asked sharply.

"You will not let me out of your sight if I tell you," said Mary by way of explanation. "I am determined to do it, however, and will not be moved."

"Well you've succeeded in your goal of making me excessively nervous," Jane declared. "You will stay in the company of myself or Charles, and I will hear no arguments! Charles, fetch your coat. You will go with Mary on whatever plot Darcy has planned."

"No," Mary said with finality, and she turned and left with Darcy before the Bingleys could object further.

"Thank you, Mary," Darcy said with great feeling as he hurriedly handed her into his carriage. "I know this will not be easy for you."

"You do this for the woman you love," said Mary solemnly. "I do it for my sisters."

Darcy and Mary went back to his house and donned old, dirty servant's clothes. They then went out to the stables where Darcy chose the saddle of poorest quality to put on his least noteworthy beast, and the pair set out for the sordid streets of London.

By the time the sun had started to rise, Darcy and Mary had circled at least a dozen brothels, having to stop several times so Mary could gag and dry heave in an alley, but had caught no hint of Lydia's whereabouts.

"Again tomorrow?" Darcy asked tentatively as he deposited Mary back at the Bingley's.

"Again tomorrow," Mary sighed, then closed the door.

* * *

"I have four names I can confirm are in league with those demons," Bavishni told Darcy at lunch.

Darcy had invited the Indian princess to join him, Solveig, Erik, and Fitzwilliam. Josephine, Phoebe, and Zebulon had denied the invitation to the conference in favor of continuing their frustrating missions. The Bingleys and Bennets he had left alone. Mary would surely still be recovering from her revolting night and he was loathed to disturb her with his presence. He would tell Jane and Bingley of all he learned when he went to gather Mary again that evening.

"And what do you propose to do with this information?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Your father has the names," said Bavishni. "He is quietly gathering required evidence. Once we have Lizzy and Lydia back, he will make sure they suffer."

"Are those his words, or yours?" Fitzwilliam said interestedly.

"Mine," said Bavishni coldly.

"I knew I liked you," said Fitzwilliam with a dark smile.

"Josiah?" Solveig asked. "Sophia? News?"

Darcy could not help but smile slightly at Solveig. Every day she attempted more and more English, though it was very clearly a monumental effort for her. He was sure she could understand at least one in ten words said around her now without translation.

"I gave them both a floo call this morning," said Darcy. "They report all is well, though neither Mrs. Bennet nor the Philipses have left their homes, unless to see each other. Thank goodness for small wonders." He did not care to think how much worse the situation would be if Mrs. Bennet had gone out bemoaning her fate to any who would listen.

"And Mr. Bennet?" Bavishni asked. "Is he still ill?"

Darcy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "He keeps to his bed at the Gardiners now." He had visited his beloved's father only two days previously and had been frightened by how weak the man appeared. "Mrs. Gardiner looks after him carefully."

As had been happening randomly since discovering Elizabeth was missing, all the crushing responsibilities and fears associated with Darcy's currently reality demanded to be felt keenly by him at once. His breathing became shallow. His chest tightened to the point of pain. He was completely unable to keep his eyes on anything longer than a few seconds. Ants seemed to crawl just beneath his skin.

Abruptly and without explanation, Darcy pushed himself away from his table and made a hasty exit. He could not sit still an instant longer. Such attacks of acute anxiety he had felt frequently when he had first inherited Pemberley and all its holdings but become less with time. Since he had starting courting Elizabeth, he had felt flutterings, but not a full blown episode as he now experienced. How very desperately he wanted his beloved at that moment!

* * *

Darcy had just decided to bring Mary back to the Bingleys' and accept another night of defeat when Mary suddenly clawed at his hands on the reins.

"She's _there!_" Mary whispered excitedly, pointing to the building ahead. "Lydia! She's there!"

Darcy's heart roared in triumph. "Can we get her now?"

"No, certainly not," Mary said quickly. "There are many guards. She is confused, but healthy and awake."

"She hasn't been – ?" Darcy could not bring himself to finish his question.

"Thank every power that has ever existed, no," Mary answered. "The madame of the house keeps a close eye on Lydia. She's been promised quite the pretty penny if she makes sure Lydia stays put, and if the money doesn't come, she gets to keep Lydia."

"Wickham and Malfoy had best pray they are killed by each other before I get to them," Darcy growled.

Mary suddenly blanched horribly. "Please, Darcy, let us leave now!"

Darcy could only imagine what Mary was being forced to experience, and so turned away quickly and urged his horse to sprint.

Later that morning, the entire party Darcy had assembled to find and recover Elizabeth and Lydia gathered in the Bingleys' home. He had even called Josiah and Sophia to come back. He acquainted the entire party with the whole of what he had learned, including Lydia's current location. Jane and Bingley were quite angry with him for having taken Mary on such excursions, but he could not find cause to regret his actions. Had he not made the request of Mary it was unlikely they would have ever found the youngest Bennet.

A plan was made, for everyone was determined that Elizabeth and Lydia would not be made to spend another night in their current miseries.

Jane and Mary would stay behind at the house and prepare for their sisters' arrival. Both were anxious to be of service and were determined they would provide the very best care to Elizabeth and Lydia, with Kitty's help, when the girl was given a polished version of what had happened.

Josiah, Sophia, Josephine, and Bingley would go and retrieve Lydia. Disgusted as they were by the prospect, Josiah would pose as a customer and Bingley would pretend to be a callous brother looking to rid himself of his sisters. Josephine and Sophia had enough similar features that, if they dressed and styled carefully, they could pass for siblings. Once the group gained access to the building, they would scour it for Lydia, Stunning anyone that got in their way. Bavishni promised to acquaint Lord Matlock with the plan, and the two of them would smooth over whatever issues resulted from the plot, if any. The Ministry was not overly concerned with what occurred in such places.

Darcy, Fitzwilliam, Zebulon, and Phoebe would go, in disguise, to the pits. Erik and Solveig would arrive once they had confirmation Lydia had been successfully retrieved. If things went smoothly, Solveig would purchase Elizabeth, then take her to be with Jane and Mary while the rest of the party dealt with Wickham, Malfoy, or both, depending on who made an appearance. If things did _not_ go smoothly, whoever could get ahold of Elizabeth would, and fight their way to a point of disapparition.

* * *

**Author's Note**

-cue ultra dramatic music- Let's. Freakin. GOOOOOOOO!

I hope you enjoyed this posting! Please share your thoughts in a review!


	38. Chapter 38

"And _this _is considered entertainment," said Fitzwilliam disgustedly as he watched a young witch bite a wizard's wand hand in the pits. "I weep for the futures of the poor people here."

"I should think such barbaric sights would not phase you after so long a time in the army," said Darcy. He did not have any mental effort to spare on the savagery of what was happening in the lowered rings that made up the pits. He was anxiously scanning the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Solveig's telltale hair or cloak.

"To see this in battle is one thing," said Fitzwilliam. "There, everyone is fighting for their very life. Here, it is entirely disturbing."

"Well, it is quite possible that they _are_ fighting for their lives," said Darcy. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. He was nearly overcome by panic as he thought of his beloved having to brawl like a feral cat for her own survival.

"Get control of yourself, man!" Fitzwilliam said harshly after smacking his cousin in the face. Darcy thought several other attempts must have been made first, but was hardly surprised he had not noticed them.

With great difficulty, Darcy forced considerable air into his lungs until he stopped seeing spots.

"Look, there! Solveig!" Fitzwilliam said in a strangled voice.

Darcy's attention snapped onto the elaborate braid that announced Solveig's presence. _Lydia was safe_.

Without further hesitation, the cousins shoved their way through the crowd until they were able to hear Erik and Solveig. Zebulon and Phoebe, Darcy knew, were now moving toward the main exit to keep it covered.

"My mistress demands it as part of the sale," Erik said just as Darcy and Fitzwilliam approached. "She will not do business with a man that refuses to show his true self, especially since the promised collateral will not be delivered until _after_ the sale."

"She can hardly blame me for my self-preservation," said a stranger laughingly. Wickham. Darcy could tell by his slimy manners.

Solveig looked indignant and spat out a response.

"I am sure you can see my mistress is not convinced by such an argument," said Erik with a smirk. "She also wishes to know where the Bejeweled Pixie is, for you seem quite alone this evening."

"The Pixie is being tended by my partner," Wickham answered reluctantly. "Word has gotten around that we have opened negotiations with your mistress and there are those that would take advantage of an opportunity to steal the Pixie away."

So Malfoy was here too. That made the matter of wrapping up the entire incident with a bow that much easier.

"My mistress refuses to have further dealings with you unless she sees you, your partner, and the Pixie without disguise," said Erik after receiving an edict from Solveig. "If you are unwilling to cooperate, then she will take her business elsewhere."

"No, don't go!" Wickham burst. He clenched his teeth and balled his hands into fists. Darcy was pleased to see him so discomposed.

"Faces, now," Solveig growled an inch from Wickham's nose.

Wickham ground his teeth for several seconds, then nodded and turned on his heel.

"When she comes, Darcy, you have to stay still," Fitzwilliam coached. "You are going to want to go to her immediately, I know, but that will only complicate matters. Remember, if we can extract her without causing a scene – "

"I know, I know, _I know_," Darcy said irritably. Already, he was gripping the edge of the raised table at which he and Fitzwilliam stood in an effort to keep himself rooted. He was excessively grateful for his cousin's presence, because he doubted he would be able to prevent himself rushing to his beloved if and when he saw her.

He was correct.

Wickham and Malfoy, bearing their own atrocious faces, both pushed their way through the crowd over to Solveig, Elizabeth sandwiched between them.

Immediately, Darcy started moving toward his beloved. Fitzwilliam had quite the task of keeping his cousin in place, very nearly putting him in a headlock at one point. Zebulon and Phoebe had to abandon their post by the door to be of assistance before too much attention could be drawn to the struggling cousins.

"What is the amount you would like to see?" Erik asked on behalf of Solveig after the Norwegian witch had satisfied herself that the party before her was not under any sort of disguise.

Haggling continued for several minutes. Solveig had just been reaching for her coin purse when a passerby recognized Wickham, declared the scoundrel owed him money, and punched him in the face.

As Malfoy made to grab Elizabeth, Darcy was released by his companions and they all jumped into the fray.

"Elizabeth!" Darcy shouted desperately and reached out for her.

Elizabeth was pulled away by the chain of chaos that had been unleashed by the brawl that started between Wickham and his debtor.

Overflowing with white-hot rage, Darcy drew his wand and used it with impunity, felling a great many fools that attempted getting at him. Though he continually tried to locate his beloved, he was unsuccessful.

"Darcy! Door!" Solveig shouted. After having cried her warning, she beat her wand against her chest and soon held her battle axe, the sight of which struck awe-inspired fear into the hearts of all the cowards surrounding her, who then started scuttling away like mice. Phoebe proved herself to be quite an effective mouser.

Darcy looked to where Solveig had indicated and felt his blood run cold at the sight of Malfoy moving closer and closer to the door and disapparation with his beloved. He grabbed his cousin by the collar and dragged him along, leaving Solveig to swipe ferociously at any that dared approach her. As he began leaping over fallen furniture and people, he heard Solveig bellow Wickham's name and felt grim satisfaction.

"I am _not_ going with you!" Elizabeth shouted at Malfoy, pulling against him with all her might.

"Then I'll kill you where you stand," Malfoy yelled, "like I should have back in Meryton!"

Darcy let out an absolutely savage cry that could surely never be replicated and threw the whole of his running weight at Malfoy before the villain could do more than raise his wand. When asked later, he would be able to give no clear explanation of how his hands came to be covered in blood, but he was certain it was not his. He was sure he had been trying his hardest to stop the rising and falling of Malfoy's chest that he could feel below him, but was not sure what methods he employed. He was not sure of much of anything, in fact, until his cousin and Zebulon managed to pry him away from his prey.

"Darcy! Elizabeth!" Fitzwilliam cried as he secured Malfoy.

Darcy, who had continued to fight against Zebulon to get at the unconscious excuse for a man on the floor, snapped his head in the direction his cousin had indicated. Elizabeth, brandishing a broken chair leg like a sword, was battling her way through the chaos and shouting something.

"Go get her," Zebulon said, instantly releasing Darcy. "I'll find her wand and bring it!"

Darcy bounded away as Zebulon began rifling through Malfoy's pockets.

"Elizabeth!" No matter how many times Darcy cried out, his beloved seemed not to hear him. When he finally managed to get close enough to hear her above the masses, he found she was calling out for Lydia.

At long last, Darcy was able to catch up to Elizabeth when she came upon the sight of Wickham curled up on the floor. His wand arm had been removed at the shoulder, courtesy of Solveig, who was looking down at him as she rested her own arm on her bloodied axe. No one dared approach her.

"Where is she?" Elizabeth screeched at Wickham, swooping down and pulling at his lapels. "_Where is my sister?"_

Darcy, gently yet firmly, pried Elizabeth's fingers from Wickham. He tried to lead her out of the pool of red liquid in which she stood, but she began fighting him fiercely. He wrapped his arms tightly around hers, then lifted her off her feet and carried her away a short distance.

Greatly fearing for his beloved's state of mind and physical safety, Darcy brought her over to a wall, then pinned her to it by her shoulders. "Elizabeth!" he called repeatedly until, finally, blessedly, her eyes focused on him. "We have Lydia," he said once he was sure he had her attention.

Elizabeth's knees gave out, so great was her relief. Darcy quickly pulled his beloved forward to be in his arms, pressing her head into his shoulder.

"Found her wand!" Zebulon cried, coming over. Unable to access Elizabeth as he was, he slipped the wand into Darcy's pocket. He might have said or done more, but was distracted by the need to use his own wand to fend off an approaching drunkard.

The cacophony that surrounded him washed over Darcy harmlessly. All he cared about was the woman in his arms. After so much time of suffering and fearing he would lose his beloved, he had her, and he was _not_ going to take it for granted.

"Look, I hate to break this up," said Phoebe loudly and harshly, "but we need to get out of here, and fast!"

Darcy looked around and the terrifying absurdity of his surroundings came crashing back to his consciousness. The cowards had fled, greatly diminishing the number of people present, but it left the angry, the drunk, and the adrenaline filled with more room to move and gave them a narrowed field of targets on which to focus. Things were well and truly getting out of hand.

"Can you fight?" Darcy asked his beloved, pulling her wand from his pocket and holding it in front of her face.

Elizabeth's gaunt features glittered with pleasure at the sight of her wand and she eagerly took it.

Phoebe grabbed Zebulon from a nearby brawl and the pair began clearing a path. Darcy pushed Elizabeth in front of him and then brought up the rear of the little party. From the corner of his eye, he saw Solveig dragging Wickham toward an exit by his remaining arm. Erik was making a path for her. Fitzwilliam was nowhere to be seen.

"Fitzwilliam took Malfoy to the Ministry," said Zebulon once the group was free of the building. "We'll head there now. You two get back to the Bingleys."

"What about Solveig?" Phoebe asked, clearly scandalized that Zebulon had failed to mention the woman she had developed a very, very strong appreciation for in the past half hour.

"You are entirely correct. Shall we, Miss Weasley?" Zebulon asked, holding out his arm and facing the stairs that led down into the pits.

Phoebe rolled her eyes, smacked Zebulon's arm away, and began running to reenter the fray. Zebulon was quick on her heels.

"Oh no, you don't," Darcy objected, grabbing Elizabeth's arm as she made to follow her friends.

"They need – "

Darcy put a finger to Elizabeth's lips to stall her protest. He wanted to say that he did not particularly care what anyone needed besides Elizabeth, but could not imagine such a declaration going over well. Instead, he said, "Lydia is with your sisters."

"Take me to them, now!" Elizabeth said immediately, the pits forgotten. She gripped Darcy's arm tightly.

"I don't know that side-along is such a good id – "

"I trust you, William," said Elizabeth. "Please. Let's go."

Darcy could not resist his beloved's heartfelt statements. Saying a prayer as he did so, he turned on the spot. Immediately upon regaining solid ground, Darcy made to examine his beloved to make sure she had not suffered a splinch, but she ran from his arms as soon as she recognized Bingley's house.

Darcy hardly hesitated before hurrying after Elizabeth, and yet she had already found and embraced Lydia by the time he made it over the threshold.

"I'm so sorry, Lizzy!" Lydia cried. "I'm so sorry!"

Lizzy shushed her sister and murmured over and over again how very glad she was that Lydia was safe.

As she stood fairly still, Darcy took advantage of the opportunity to truly look his beloved over. He started at her feet, and thus first noticed her hems were soaked in Wickham's blood. That he only focused on long enough to wonder if Wickham had lost enough of the substance to die. His eyes ran up his beloved, taking stock of every possible injury and creating a catalog of all that he might procure to help her. Once his eyes settled on bruises on her arm outlining the shape of a hand, he found it very difficult not to rush out of the house and assure that whoever had inflicted the marking would _never_ be able to do so again.

"Lizzy, let Lydia go now."

Jane's gentle voice pulled Darcy from his dark musings and brought him back to focus. She made to pull Lydia away, but Elizabeth clutched the girl tighter to prevent it.

"Elizabeth," Darcy said softly, setting a hand on his beloved's shoulder. "Let Jane have her."

Still shaking with emotion, Elizabeth slowly released Lydia to Jane's control.

Jane moved decidedly. Without losing a moment, she called for Kitty and Mary. Kitty was in such a hurry to get down the stairs she nearly fell several times. She hugged Elizabeth quickly, then grabbed Lydia and began shepherding her younger sister upstairs. Mary made to take Elizabeth, but she gripped Darcy's hand so tightly he thought his fingers would lose circulation. If it were not for Jane looking at him quite insistently, he would have gone with his beloved.

"I will come soon, my love," Darcy said to Elizabeth. "Go with Mary."

Elizabeth took a quick hug from Darcy before going with her next youngest sister.

"I thought Lizzy and Lydia might need a moment to just themselves," Jane said quietly after Elizabeth and Mary were out of sight. "It was quite the task, I must say, to persuade Kitty to stay above stairs."

Darcy looked at Jane appreciatively. "Thank you for arranging it."

"Charles and Jo went right to the Ministry after bringing Lydia," Jane offered. "Josiah says they only had to Confund a few people, so there really should not be an issue there. He and Sophia went back to Hertfordshire, just in case Malfoy and Wickham had some sort of backup plan in the event of their failure.

"Bavishni's already sent word that she and Lord Matlock have started moving against Malfoy and Wickham's accomplices in the Ministry. She expects they'll be in Azkaban before lunch tomorrow."

Darcy nodded his approval. "_They_ were both there," he spat once he realized Jane was waiting for his own account. "Fitzwilliam brought Malfoy to the Ministry. I assume he will take up residence in his own cell in Azkaban shortly. Wickham may very well be dead by now." He felt a smile of grim satisfaction creep over his features. "Solveig relieved him of his right arm."

Jane's eyes widened slightly. "Merlin's beard…" she said faintly. Soon, she gathered herself and asked after the rest of the party in a strong voice.

"We're all just fine, Mrs. Bingley," said Phoebe's cheery voice.

Darcy spun on his heel to see Zebulon and Phoebe making their way through the door. "All is well?"

"Solveig had just left with Wickham and Erik when aurors started showing up," said Zebulon. "Phoebe and I skedaddled out of there pretty quick, ourselves. I didn't much fancy being detained in the pits any longer for questioning."

"But you _must_ be questioned!" Jane objected.

"We'll head to the Ministry just as soon as we see Lydia for ourselves," said Phoebe. "She's upstairs, I presume?" Without waiting for confirmation or an invitation to further enter the house, she set off with Zebulon.

Darcy felt immense gratitude well inside him for Phoebe and Zebulon's steadfast devotion to his beloved. "Has Lydia suffered any injury?" he asked Jane without taking his eyes off the pair of Gryffindors ascending the stairs.

"No," Jane answered. She was about to say more, but Kitty suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs calling for Jane to come quickly. "She has hardly let me out of her sight, however," Jane said over her shoulder as she took the stairs two at a time. "You'll look after Lizzy?"

Darcy, with his long legs, was able to take the stairs in threes and reached the next floor at the same time as Jane, despite her head start.

"Third door on the left," Jane said before being pulled into a room by Kitty. Phoebe and Zebulon, wisely, had turned around and left when Kitty had appeared.

Darcy knocked and waited with great anxiety until Mary opened the door.

"I'll be just in the next room," Mary said lowly, and she slipped past Darcy.

Elizabeth had already changed with her sister's help and sat on the edge of the bed staring blankly ahead.

"Elizabeth?" Darcy called gently from the doorway. "May I come in?"

Elizabeth's eyes snapped into focus and she tried to smile at him. "Of course you can come in."

Darcy wasted no time in getting to his beloved's side. He guided her to the settee in the room and sat with her upon it. "Please tell me what hurts," he asked as he drew his wand.

Elizabeth objected only minimally before beginning to tell him of and show him some of her injuries. Darcy had seen to a few cuts and the horrifying finger-shaped bruises on her arm before she gasped sharply.

"Have I hurt you?" Darcy asked anxiously, quickly releasing what he had thought to be a gentle grip on his beloved's elbow.

"No, no," Elizabeth said quickly. "I only just thought…"

"Thought what, my love?" Darcy asked. He very much wanted to reach out to her, but was staid with the thought she might not want much physical contact, presently.

"What do Mr. and Mrs. Bennet know?" Elizabeth asked. "What have they been told?"

Darcy sighed and leaned his side against the back of the settee. "They know you and Lydia were kidnapped. Your father has been in London almost the entire time." He swallowed heavily, knowing Elizabeth would struggle with what he next offered. "He has not been well, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's eyes began glistening with tears instantly. "How bad is he?"

Darcy almost wished he could lie. "I think it very fortunate we discovered you when we did. A few more days of this might have done him in."

Elizabeth shuddered and began rubbing her arms as if cold.

"Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner have been very attentive to him," Darcy said, eager to offer whatever relief was possible. "Bingley will go and tell him of your recovery as soon as he is done at the Ministry."

"No, I will go to him now," said Elizabeth, and she made to rise.

Darcy quickly shot out a hand to grab Elizabeth by the wrist. "Elizabeth, _you_ are not well, either."

"Leave me be! I am well enough," Elizabeth snapped, then ripped her arm from his grasp.

Darcy felt his heart, slowly and painfully, start to tear apart as Elizabeth withdrew from him and began making her way to the door. He had been prepared for many things. Elizabeth's back was not one of them. His completely spent, emotionally exhausted mind was at a loss for what to do.

"Lizzy!" Jane scolded a few moments later from the hallway. "Just what do you think you are doing? Get back into your room!"

"Jane, there's so much that needs to be done," Elizabeth objected weakly. "And Papa…"

"Charles is on his way to Papa as we speak," said Jane firmly. "He will regain health quickly, now that you and Lydia are returned. Everything you've thought of is being seen to already. Oddly enough, Elizabeth Bennet, the world can and will continue to turn even if you fail to tend to it for a few nights!"

Jane appeared, dragging Elizabeth behind her. She set her sister back on the settee beside Darcy. "Now you stay here, Lizzy, and _rest!_

"And you, Mr. Darcy!" Jane exclaimed. "I charged you with tending my sister, did I not? Was I unclear in my instructions?"

Darcy shook his head and fought the impulse to smile. He was very grateful for the fit Jane was currently throwing, and more than a little amused at the hints of Madam Pomfrey peeking through. How had he ever thought Jane to be weak and easily influenced?

"I did not think so," Jane snorted. She slammed the door behind her.

Desperately hoping he was not making a stupid decision, Darcy turned to his beloved and said, "Well now you've done it," as he would have to Fitzwilliam when his cousin stepped too far and got them both into trouble with Lady Matlock as children.

Darcy's gamble was well rewarded. Elizabeth giggled for a full five seconds and even met his gaze.

"Please, my love, let me take care of you," Darcy begged after allowing himself a moment to enjoy his success. His pleading combined with Jane's sternness finally broke through, and Elizabeth let her shoulders collapse. He reached out quickly and took her in his arms.

How much time passed, Darcy had not a clue. Elizabeth did not cry as he thought she might have, but she did tighten her grip when he made to shift her so he could see her face to prevent him. After trying three times, he gave up the effort and, knowing she would come out when she was ready, simply held her.

Eventually, Elizabeth exposed her face. "What amuses you so?" she asked confusedly upon looking at Darcy's features.

"You have lines on your cheek from my robes," Darcy answered. He found the indentations absolutely adorable and could not fight the soft smile that stole over his features. "I am _so_ happy you are back."

"I am, as well," Elizabeth said with the flicker of a smile.

Darcy sobered rather quickly. "Please, my love, will you tell me what happened?" He very much feared what she might say, but he needed to know.

Elizabeth brought herself to sit upright and began fidgeting with Darcy's fingers.

Suddenly and forcefully assailed by the fear that had plagued him on and off the entirety of the nearly two weeks Elizabeth had been missing, Darcy gripped his beloved's hands quite firmly and made himself ask, "Did Wickham force himself on you?"

"No," Elizabeth answered.

Darcy released a huge breath, then kissed each of his beloved's hands. He could still imagine the henna patterns on them.

"I worried about it a few times, when he was truly drunk and had already… well, there were a few nights spent at brothels," Elizabeth said uneasily.

Darcy clenched his eyes shut and set his forehead down on Elizabeth's hands, still ensconced in his own. Each of his breaths went in and out of his nose quite loudly as he fought to control himself. He was half relief Elizabeth had not been assaulted in such a fashion and half rage she had been made to be worried about such.

"I had considered," Elizabeth choked out after a few moments.

"Considered what?" Darcy asked tightly. With great fear, he raised his gaze to his beloved's.

Elizabeth bit her lip nervously. "I had considered just what I might do to convince him or Malfoy to let me have Lydia," she said eventually.

Darcy immediately crushed his beloved to his chest. At that moment, he did not trust himself to speak.

"If I hadn't seen Solveig when I had…" Elizabeth did not finish her sentence, and Darcy was immensely grateful.

Darcy kissed the top of Elizabeth's head repeatedly. "I'm so very sorry, Elizabeth, that you had to consider such things. I wish we had been able to find you and Lydia sooner. I wish you had never been taken at all!"

"You're not angry?"

Darcy felt every synapse in his brain jolt. "Angry?" he breathed. He felt Elizabeth's fingers dig into his arms nervously as she nodded.

This could not stand!

Darcy pulled Elizabeth away from him so they could see each other's faces. "Elizabeth, I am _livid_, but not with you! Never with you."

"But I – "

"No," Darcy interrupted quite firmly. "I refuse to discuss that particular issue any further."

"I was almost ready to betray you in the most horrible of ways," Elizabeth said, tears finally beginning to fall.

"Betray me?" Darcy repeated. How was it_ possible_ such was a concern of hers, all other things taken into consideration? "Elizabeth, you – " he struggled for words and took a deep breath before trying again. "You are the strongest and most beautiful woman, inside and out, that I have ever met. I cannot imagine there are very many sisters that would have done all that you did, considered all you considered, for the sake of Lydia. I am honored that a woman such as you has allowed me to be such a part of her life. And I am so incredibly grateful we were able to get to you both before you gave so very much of yourself that you might never have recovered."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and turned her face into the hand Darcy had put to her cheek during his speech.

"I might become angry with what you tell me, Elizabeth, but that anger is not with you," Darcy assured. "Please, my dearest Elizabeth, let me share your burdens."

After a few minutes of consideration, Elizabeth said finally, "I will. But I don't want you to see my face as I do."

"May I still hold you?" Darcy asked in trepidation. He was not quite sure how he would be able to handle himself otherwise.

With a little shifting around, Elizabeth settled herself so her back was to his chest, her midriff resting on his leg. His arms she pulled around herself so she might distract herself as she spoke by playing with his hands.

Malfoy and Wickham had planned very carefully, and therefore had bragged readily to Elizabeth when things worked out as they had hoped. They knew she and Darcy would be gone through most of June and used the time to their advantage. Jane and Bingley were distracted with wedding preparations and the Hursts with the child that was very nearly ready to arrive, leaving Mary as the only obstacle before them. When the apothecary was called to Longbourn, they seized the opportunity. It was not difficult for them to overpower the poor man and switch out what he intended to give Mary with a potion they had procured from Knockturn Alley. The apothecary's memory was modified, and no one was any the wiser.

Next came the details Darcy already knew of how Wickham and Malfoy had secured the unknowing help of the youngest Bennets.

"It was very hard, watching Lydia being taken away from me," Elizabeth said almost blankly. Her exploration of Darcy's hands had slowed.

Fearing his beloved would get lost in her dark thoughts, Darcy wiggled his fingers in attempts to regain her attention. Thankfully, it worked, though she remained quiet.

"There was blood on the path," Darcy said after a few minutes, hoping to possibly restart Elizabeth's recitation.

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "That was Malfoy. He severed the tendon above my right knee. My muscle rolled right on up my leg. It was immensely painful."

Darcy clenched his hands around his beloved's for a moment as he fought for control of himself. "Does it still ail you?" he asked once he had shoved his fury aside. He released his grip and Elizabeth began toying with his fingers once more.

"I wouldn't have been much use if I couldn't stand," Elizabeth said dispassionately. "Wickham has a friend that's a disgraced healer."

"Do you happen to remember the name?"

"I wasn't particularly interested in paying attention to much of anything, at the time," Elizabeth answered.

Darcy took several more deep breaths. "Please continue when you are ready."

Elizabeth went on to tell of her days before being sent into the pits. She was moved frequently and threatened often. When she mentioned Malfoy had used the Cruciatus on her at one point, Darcy again tightened his hands over hers.

"Truly, it was not so very bad," Elizabeth tried to say casually.

"Is that why you're shaking?" Darcy asked through his teeth.

"I can handle it well enough," Elizabeth said smally. "I worry that he used it on Lydia."

"We can certainly ask her," Darcy said. He wondered just how much effort it would take to rip Malfoy's head off with his bare hands. To know that his beloved had been treated in such a fashion was horrific enough. If she was made to suffer the burden of hearing Lydia had been through the same, he thought there was very little that could stop him from making his morbid musings a reality.

"She will tell who she wants when she's ready," said Elizabeth.

A commotion in the hallway distracted the pair from the issue.

"Absolutely not!" came Jane's voice. Someone else said something, but was too quiet to be heard over the distance and through the door. "My sisters are recovering, sir, and I will not have you disturb them. Leave my house this instant!"

"I suppose that is my cue," Elizabeth said resignedly.

Elizabeth made to get up, but Darcy held her fast to him. "Jane can deal with whatever poor Ministry sod attempts to get past her quite effectively, I would imagine. Let us leave her to it. She's been remarkably stressed and would enjoy the opportunity to let loose, I'm sure."

Elizabeth began laughing lightly, but stopped abruptly. "Did Jane say _her_ house?"

"Later, my love," said Darcy. "What happened next?"

Thankfully, Elizabeth chose not to argue. She went on to say how she had been bent to the wills of her captors once they began threatening Lydia. Her fear for her sister won out over her desire to keep her dignity intact, and so she had gone willingly to the pits. She had vomited profusely upon the completion of her first "duel." That opponent had claw marks on his face at the end, and Elizabeth blood and skin under her fingernails. She had no recollection of having acted so, but that only made the matter more disturbing to her.

"You have blood in the beds of your fingernails," Elizabeth observed. "Is it yours?"

"Malfoy's," Darcy answered. He had only wiped his hands, not washed them, after seeing Elizabeth through the Bingleys' door. He flexed his fingers and only then realized he had tender scabs on his knuckles. "I don't know quite what happened, either."

Elizabeth made to get up once more, and again Darcy stopped her.

"I only want to get a cloth from the basin," Elizabeth protested.

"I am fine," said Darcy. He kissed the top of his beloved's head.

"I want to," Elizabeth insisted, "and it'll give me something to focus on."

Sighing, Darcy released his hold. Elizabeth rose, fetched a cloth from a cabinet, wet it, and returned to her position all without exposing her face.

Attention now occupied with clearing Darcy's hands of remnants of the blood of their enemy, Elizabeth continued. She recounted each of her fights. Told of the first time she heard of being sold off. Darcy had asked her to pause for a few moments at that. When he had mastered himself, Elizabeth went on to tell him of how she had finally been allowed to "see" Lydia and the girl's complaints that gave her an idea of where her sister was.

Most of the rest, Darcy knew already. As Elizabeth spoke of seeing Solveig and how she began recalculating her efforts to accommodate such, he rested his head on the back of the settee. He could not get over the great strength of his beloved.

"I don't think I fully explained myself to you," said Elizabeth as she gently dabbed at Darcy's shredded knuckles. "Before," she added.

"How so?" Darcy asked. He had closed his eyes and finally begun to let himself relax upon the completion of Elizabeth's tale. Now panic began creeping on him again.

"Why I thought you would be angry with me."

Darcy pulled his head up, tugging the cloth from Elizabeth's hands and balling it in his fist. This was too important, he knew, for either of them to be distracted.

"In the first days, I thought you would come at any moment," Elizabeth said. She tried to take the cloth back from Darcy, but he would not let her. "I thought you'd burst the door down, hand me a wand or sword, and we'd personally escort Malfoy and Wickham to Azkaban after they told us where Lydia was."

Uncomfortable tightness began winding its way around Darcy's chest. "After the first days?" he made himself ask.

"I recognized you might need time to come up with a strategy," Elizabeth said. "I told myself I just had to hold on. Either I would find an opportunity, or you would. I just focused on making it through the day."

"And then?" Darcy found himself unable to breathe.

"I thought you might have given up," Elizabeth admitted smally after several moments.

Darcy threw his head back as agony seized his muscles.

"I knew you weren't dead," Elizabeth continued. "Wickham and Malfoy would have rejoiced at that. But I knew I'd frustrated you so much. You were ready to move to the next step of our relationship, but I kept fighting you. Maybe you'd decided it wasn't worth it to go after me, since I turned you away so many times."

Elizabeth's tears had started falling into his open wounds, but Darcy thought he well deserved the sharp pains. The torturous thoughts of whether he could have been doing something more had kept him from getting any sleep most nights. Truth told, he had only slept the whole night twice throughout the entire ordeal, and he highly suspected Bingley offering him a nightcap on those occasions had something to do with it. Now, he regretted that he had wasted all that time only thinking instead of acting.

"I cannot begin to explain the depths of my sorrow that you had such occasion to doubt me, Elizabeth," Darcy started.

"I know it was stupid of me," Elizabeth said. She adjusted herself to finally show Darcy her face, and it was full of resolution. "You were always coming for me."

Darcy leaned forward and twisted in his seat so he and Elizabeth faced each other fully. "I will _always_ come for you, Elizabeth," he said, feeling as though his very heart was packaged with each word. "Were you to at this very moment send me away and declare you wanted nothing more to do with me, yet find yourself in trouble ten, twenty, thirty years down the road, I would come for you. You could curse me, say the most horrible things, run away, fall – " here he could not stop himself from choking on his raw emotion, " – fall in love with and marry someone else. I would still come for you. Nothing you say or do could ever make me love you less."

"And that, William, is just one of the reasons _I_ have come to love _you_ so fiercely."

Darcy froze. Had she just said what he thought she had?

Elizabeth smiled. "You heard correctly," she told him.

A veritable monsoon of thoughts rushed into Darcy's mind and he was unable to form any words. She loved him. Elizabeth Bennet _loved him_.

Elizabeth took Darcy's hands and gently kissed the most abused of his knuckles. "Can you forgive me for doubting you?"

"Yes," was all Darcy was able to get his mouth to say. He was still quite dumbstruck.

Elizabeth's smile widened to a delighted grin. "If you are ready to ask, my love, I am ready to answer."

Darcy shot forward from the position he had fallen into and gripped Elizabeth's hands tightly. "Are you sure?" he asked. "If you're not, then – " he could not finish. Could not say that he thought he might fade from existence if she were to deny him now.

"Please."

Heart hammering wildly, Darcy stumbled through the questions he had thought over, and over, and over, and over, and over, _and over again_ each time he was with his beloved. "Elizabeth, my dear, my love, my best friend, my partner in everything, will you let me be your husband? Will you _please_ marry me?"

"Yes, I will be your wife."

Darcy pulled Elizabeth to him at the same time as he leapt from his seat. He spun her around and laughed wildly.

His wife! He was holding his future wife! She had accepted him!

* * *

**Author's Note**

Jane in this chapter was fun to write. Like any true Hufflepuff, I believe she would go full beast-mode if she believed someone was a threat to a loved one.

Fam, fam, for real. I feel like the post-rescue scene with Darcy and Lizzy is way different than things I've posted before and I would really love to know what you thought of it. Please leave a review or send a PM! We've got 2-3 more posts left in this story.


	39. Chapter 39

After a time, Darcy became aware of some scuffle happening in the hallway. He ceased spinning, but continued to hold his dear fiancée to him as he listened. Heaven help them if some Ministry worker was trying to get to his Elizabeth _now._

"No, Jane, I don't think you need to go in – " Mary was saying.

Darcy took Elizabeth by the hand, led her to the door, and ripped it open, all with such a smile as might split his face in two. "Elizabeth will be my wife!" he shouted at his future sisters.

Jane squealed in delight and, in a display of such emotion as he had never seen from the woman, shoved past him to envelope her sister in her arms. She jumped for joy as she continued to hug Elizabeth and exclaim her happiness.

"Congratulations, Darcy," Mary said. She was not so exuberant as Jane, but Darcy could tell she was very well pleased.

"Thank you, Mary," Darcy replied. He thought of all that Mary had done for him and for Elizabeth, and he could not help but reach out to hug his future sister. It was somewhat awkward, but he did not regret it in the least.

"Did I hear correctly?" Kitty asked. She and Lydia were both poking their heads out a door down the hall.

"Yes, Kitty, you heard correctly," Elizabeth laughed, coming forward and taking Darcy's hand in her own. "We are engaged!"

Kitty's shriek could easily have rivaled a banshee's, and she very nearly knocked the couple over when she ran at them to express her congratulations. Lydia's feet dragged as she walked over with her jaw hanging.

"Are you so very surprised, Lydia?" Darcy asked jovially. He believed he could find humor in just about anything brought before him in this moment.

Lydia snapped her jaw up and a teasing expression reminiscent of her older sister stole over her face. "Surprised Lizzy finally stopped being such a thick-headed dunce!"

"Mary!" Elizabeth scolded, even as she snorted. "Have you been teaching our sisters fresh insults?"

"No, Lydia came up with that all on her own," Mary said with a grin. "I told you that you were being one, did I not?"

"When was this?" Darcy asked curiously. He quite wanted to hear the story behind the insult that seemed to so delight his fiancée. His fiancée!

"Don't tell him, Mary," said Elizabeth while directing a teasing glare at Darcy. "I want to hold it over him as leverage when he fights with me over wedding decisions."

"You could tell me that you wanted to be wed in a crate full of rotten fish and I would believe it to be the most wonderful idea in the world, Elizabeth," said Darcy. He had no intention of arguing against anything his beloved wanted for their wedding day.

All the Bennet sisters dissolved into tear-inducing laughter at such a pronouncement.

"Jane?" called Bingley's voice. "Jane, is everything alright?"

Still breathless, Jane rushed down the stairs toward Bingley, Kitty and Lydia on her heels. Mary expressed her congratulations again, then made herself scarce.

"It is later, sir," said Elizabeth, looking up into Darcy's face. "What did Jane mean when she called this her house?"

Darcy felt some small shadow of anxiety grip him. "This is the house of Charles and Jane Bingley," he said. "Of course she should call it hers."

"Oh, I missed their wedding?" Elizabeth cried.

"Are you very upset?" Darcy asked.

"Certainly, I'm upset!" Elizabeth readily answered. She smiled despite the pronouncement. "Only that I was prevented from attending. I am glad they did not wait for me, however."

"Such is just one more crime to add to the list committed by Malfoy and Wickham," said Darcy. He brought his beloved to him again. It had been a full minute, at least, since she had been in his arms. Truly, that was much too long a span of time.

A victorious whoop sounded, followed by Bingley thundering up the stairs.

"Hello, brother!" Elizabeth cheerfully greeted, freeing herself from Darcy's embrace to fully welcome Bingley.

"Hello, sister!" Bingley exclaimed without stopping his hurried progression toward the couple. "Hello, future brother!"

* * *

Every time Darcy, the Bingleys, and the Bennets began to calm down enough to have a discussion, someone else entered the house and started the excitement anew.

Bavishni had been so distracted she was unable to order her thoughts enough to express her congratulations in English for several minutes. Phoebe set to teasing Elizabeth immediately. Josephine had cried. Zebulon had threatened Darcy's life even as he shook his hand in congratulations, as seemed quite appropriate for the friend Elizabeth practically considered a brother. Solveig, who had thankfully changed robes so she was no longer spattered with Wickham's blood, positively beamed as she loudly declared her excitement.

Fitzwilliam, the latest arrival, positively crushed Darcy's hand while telling Elizabeth there was still time for her to reconsider.

Darcy did not appreciate his cousin's tease in the slightest. His teeth ground together, and he was quite prepared to open the freshly formed scabs on his hand to express his displeasure.

"I assure you, Major Fitzwilliam," said Elizabeth in a perfect cross between light teasing and harsh resolve, "that there is nothing in this world that could convince me to reconsider this wonderful man as my future husband."

Fitzwilliam had enough sense to retreat, though he smirked at Darcy before doing so.

Darcy took his future wife by the hand and led her from the parlor that had become rather crowded. "Are you well, my love?" he asked once they were alone.

"Quite well, William," Elizabeth answered easily. She rose on her toes to kiss Darcy's cheek. "I don't know if I have ever been better."

Darcy closed his eyes and set his forehead against his beloved's in blissful contentment. Had it not been for her stomach growling rather loudly, he would have happily remained exactly where he was the entirety of the night.

* * *

The following week was a whirlwind of activity.

Lady Hopkirk oversaw all the legalities dealing with Wickham and Malfoy. Neither were shown any mercy. The wands of each were snapped in half, the cores removed, and the wood burned. They were sentenced to life in Azkaban, though the Dementor's Kiss had been a close thing. Elizabeth was relieved at the judgement because she did not want such a fate weighing on Lydia's conscious or her own. Darcy was pleased with the ruling because he thought a Dementor's Kiss would be too kind a punishment. He much preferred the idea that Wickham and Malfoy would spend the rest of their days facing their very worst fears until they went absolutely mad.

Bavishni parted with a great many hugs exchanged and tears shed. She declared her home would always be open to any member of Elizabeth's family and extracted solemn promises from the newly engaged couple to come visit her. Solveig left as well, though a few days later and not before Darcy began to suspect an attachment between her and his cousin.

Zebulon and his parents had been able to trace Wickham and Malfoy's spending by virtue of the specifics required for Polyjuice potion. When Darcy learned from Zebulon that some things had been purchased on Lady Catherine's credit, he had immediately raced to Rosings Park to confront the woman. Lady Catherine shamelessly admitted she had agreed to loan some money when "that poor Malfoy boy" had come to her months ago. Darcy had been so very enraged by her statements that he had left without uttering a single word in response. He never returned and any letters that came from the place were immediately consigned to the fire without being opened as long as Lady Catherine lived.

When she had recovered enough that she was able to sleep through an entire night without waking up screaming, Darcy had taken Elizabeth to the Gardiners' to see her father. Mr. Bennet was still frail, but that fact could easily be forgotten by one who saw his emotional greeting of his second child. He wept with joy and relief. When Elizabeth told him of her engagement, he said he was loathed to let her go but knew Darcy to be a good man and as close to being worthy of her as was possible.

It was as they walked back toward Bingley House, for Elizabeth had insisted she was in need of time outdoors, that Darcy raised the question of a wedding date.

"I don't think you'll like my suggestion very much," Elizabeth said.

"Rotten fish," was all Darcy said in contradiction.

Elizabeth laughed. "I think you might just beg for that crate of fish soon. Darcy, I would like to finish at Hogwarts before we marry."

Elizabeth had been right. Darcy would have _eaten_ the crate of rotten fish if it meant a sooner wedding date.

"A year?" he asked, sounding stupid and whiney even to his own ears. "You will make me wait a full year before being able to call you my wife?"

"Not a year," Elizabeth contradicted, and Darcy grew hopeful. She recognized such and gave a teasing grin. "Only ten months and some weeks."

"_Elizabeth_," Darcy groaned frustratedly.

"We have our entire lives before us, Darcy!" Elizabeth pointed out. "I would very much like to enjoy my last year at Hogwarts while being a full part of it, rather than having one foot in and one foot out."

"But you have already been there seven years, which is as long as most people spend there," Darcy tried. "Think of your last year as a transition! You'll still go to classes daily, eat most meals in the Great Hall, see all your friends and professors – "

"Live off grounds, commute daily, balance learning to be a wife while trying to complete my education," Elizabeth interrupted. "I would feel the need to give up my extra lessons and being on the Quidditch team, as well."

"We could find balance together," Darcy argued. "I would not begrudge you keeping your lessons and captain's badge."

"I would regret losing the time of being roommates with Jo and Phoebe."

"But you could be roommates with _me_ instead," Darcy countered. He found the idea of Elizabeth being the last thing he saw every night and the first thing he saw every morning to be so desperately appealing.

Elizabeth stepped in front of Darcy, halting his progression, and her wonderfully teasing expression was overtaken by one of gravity. "There is one reason I have in particular, William, that I cannot be moved on, however tempting your arguments might be."

"And what is that reason?" Darcy asked, searching his beloved's eyes.

Elizabeth wound her arm through Darcy's again and restarted their journey. "When we get back to Jane's, I will tell you. But not here on the streets."

Darcy considered pulling Elizabeth into an alley and casting spells to give them privacy so he could hear her objection without interference, but the seriousness of her face when she had stopped him was enough to convince him to abandon the plot.

When the newly engaged couple returned to the Bingleys', it was to find it in uproar.

"Louisa's had a baby girl," Kitty explained when Elizabeth asked. "Jane and Charles are determined to be gone within the hour."

Elizabeth flew into action and Darcy trailed along behind her. He was disappointed that he would have to wait to hear her main reason for delaying their nuptials, but still did not wish to be parted from her for any period of time. Indeed, he had been staying at the Bingleys' to minimize the time spent away from his beloved. Such had also provided him the opportunity to comfort her when she had her nightmares.

Elizabeth packed her own belongings, checked to see that her younger sisters were doing the same, and fought briefly with Lydia, who was refusing to gather her possessions.

"I'm _not_ going back to Hertfordshire!" Lydia insisted. "I will stay here, thank you very much!"

"Put your things in your trunk, Lydia!" Elizabeth ordered. "Mary and Kitty may go with Jane and Charles if they wish, but you and I will go to the Gardiners to stay."

Upon receiving the knowledge she would not be made to return to the scene of her kidnapping, Lydia went about packing with little fuss and was soon ready to go.

"You and your sisters could come to Pemberley," Darcy offered.

"So you can lock me up in that cellar and refuse to let me out until I change my mind?" Elizabeth quipped. "I think not!"

"I hadn't thought of such," Darcy answered, "but the idea does have considerable appeal!"

Bingley, deliriously happy to be going to meet his niece, led his wife from the house only fifteen minutes past the hour they had originally hoped to be gone by. "Take good care of our sisters!" Bingley had called over his shoulder as he stepped into his carriage. "I will inform the Gardiners of their impending arrival when we stop to gather our father-in-law!"

"See?" Darcy said to his beloved. "Even Bingley agrees that he and I should be brothers quite soon!"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes before guiding her younger sisters out of the house and seeing to their luggage being properly loaded.

* * *

While Darcy did not succeed in getting Elizabeth to agree to an earlier wedding date, nor were they afforded the opportunity for private discussion so he could hear her primary reason for such, he did manage to convince her after a few days, with Georgiana's help, to spend the rest of the summer at Pemberley with her sisters. Georgiana, herself, had invited the Gardiners, who regretfully declined to attend as a family, though they did permit Irene to go.

Upon their arrival, Irene and Georgiana quickly disappeared to the room they would share. While the young girls set off to entertain themselves, Darcy offered a tour of his home to the Bennet sisters. He delighted in his beloved's expressions as she took in her future dwelling. Her face told him she would respect and love the place as much as he did, and he was, again, very disappointed it would be such a long time before she would call Pemberley home.

Luckily, Darcy was able to distract himself with the gag he had set up before the Bennets arrived. He showed Mary, Kitty, and Lydia their rooms, then made it sound as though that was the conclusion of the tour.

"Am I not afforded a room?" Elizabeth asked archly. She then sighed dramatically. "I suppose I will just join Georgiana and Irene. I don't think they would object."

"How could I have forgotten?" Darcy exclaimed, feigning surprise that fooled no one. "My dearest fiancée, I have made sure to set up very specific accommodations for you. Come, let me show you!"

Darcy heard the younger Bennet girls laughing as they followed behind him leading Elizabeth through the halls by the hand. Kitty and Lydia made wild suppositions and, though they tried multiple times to get Mary to confide what Darcy had planned, she stoutly refused to indulge them.

"Oh, you haven't!" Elizabeth exclaimed when Darcy threw open a door near the kitchen.

Darcy did not reply, only let his grin widen as he led his beloved and her sisters into the dark, damp halls beneath Pemberley until finally stopping before an open cellar. Inside, a cot had been set up along with a small table and even a pitifully stocked bookshelf.

"Is this it?" Lydia asked incredulously, sticking her head into the cellar and looking around. "Is there a secret passageway to her _real _room?"

"No, this is almost exactly as I meant it to be," said Darcy as seriously as he could. "I was unable to procure the dragon in a timely fashion, but perhaps there is a creature in the kennels that can serve as the guard to the door in the meantime."

"You, sir, are incorrigible!" Elizabeth laughed.

Mary, smiling in great amusement, took her younger sisters by their hands and began leading them away. "Come along, Kitty, Lydia! Let us leave Lizzy to explore her room."

"Why should Lizzy be put in the cellars?" Kitty asked. She and Lydia continued in a similar vein, though Mary continually failed to provide answers.

"So you _do_ mean to lock me up," Elizabeth said with a delighted gleam her eyes. "How horrid of you."

"It is for your own safety, of course," Darcy said. "Have I not outfitted it properly?"

"Oh, no, the room is most agreeable," Elizabeth answered.

"Then I suppose there is nothing left but for you to step inside and me to turn the key."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Alright, you have had your fun. The joke is over, sir. I would like to freshen up after the carriage ride now."

"There's a basin there, on the table," said Darcy, pointing. "I'll bring your trunk, myself, once I see you safely inside."

"What a ridiculous man you've become," Elizabeth said lightly, and turned to make her way back to the main part of the house.

Darcy grabbed his beloved's wrist and turned her around to face him once more. "We have not had time to talk, just the two of us, since the Bingleys left London."

"And you concluded that bringing me down to your cellars and threatening to make me your prisoner was the best way to secure a private conversation?" Elizabeth asked with a raised brow.

Darcy could not help but smile. "I do so love when I have the chance to tease you, my dear, for it is very often the other way around."

"Well, seeing as you went through so much effort setting up these accommodations," Elizabeth said in a cross between being caustic and amused, "I might recommend Menace be installed here. He will appreciate having mice for company far more than I would."

Darcy laughed, settled Elizabeth's arm in his, and began leading her out of the cellars. "I think that to be a fine idea, but it might be best to consult Georgiana before installing Menace in his own quarters. She's become quite reattached to him since we left for India." Mrs. Gardiner had not wanted Menace in her house, and so Georgiana had been caring for the cat for the entirety of the summer thus far.

"If she is so very attached, I could be persuaded to leave him with her when we go back to Hogwarts," Elizabeth said.

"Perhaps the two of you could reach a compromise," Darcy ventured. "You could both see him regularly if, for example, you were to occupy the same house in Hogsmeade."

Elizabeth suddenly looked very tired. "This again?" she asked dully.

"You never told me that reason you said made you immovable," said Darcy. "I am determined to convince you, my love."

Elizabeth sighed and flattened her lips as she studied her fiancé. "Show me my _real _room, Darcy. Once I have cleaned myself up, we can go for a walk and I will explain myself fully."

Darcy obliged. He showed her to a chamber he had chosen for her specifically because it would put all her sisters, as well as his own, between them. He did not at all regret inviting his beloved to Pemberley, but it did make it more challenging for him to think of her as anything but his wife in full.

Half an hour later, Elizabeth and Darcy wandered away from the house and down one of the various paths leading into the woods that made up Pemberley's grounds. Once out of sight, Darcy drew his wand to reveal Elizabeth's nose ring, which still utterly delighted him. Impulsively, he kissed her nose. He was quite decided that, once Elizabeth was Mrs. Darcy, she would not conceal the emerald on her face again.

"Did Bavishni ever sneak an explanation of it to you?" Elizabeth asked, smiling from Darcy's ministrations.

"No, she did not," Darcy answered. "Would you enlighten me?"

Elizabeth told Darcy what the jewel represented, then said, "I got it because I thought of it as a sort of step toward being able to commit to marrying you."

Darcy felt his throat constrict with a tumult of emotions. "We may need to go back to the house, Elizabeth."

"You were told about the henna, were you not?"

"_Elizabeth."_

"I'll take that as a yes," Elizabeth said without faltering in her step. "I liked learning of all the different ways women prepared for their weddings across the world. I thought I was being sneaky, but Bavishni found me out soon enough. Encouraged me, I daresay."

Darcy leapt away from Elizabeth and breathed heavily. "Unless you're about to tell me you'll marry me tomorrow, Elizabeth, I don't think I can trust myself to be left in isolation with you." And he meant it whole heartedly.

Elizabeth smiled sweetly. "There is a part of me, William, that wants to do exactly that."

Darcy grit his teeth. Oh, how this woman drove him mad! "But?" he asked tightly.

"My entire time at Hogwarts, I have worried," Elizabeth admitted. "When Jane and I first learned we would go, I worried how we would get there, how we would pay for all our things, how we would make new friends, how we would keep our old ones."

Darcy kept his distance very purposefully, but gently encouraged his beloved to continue.

"I _love_ learning about the magical world, but I have always pushed myself beyond just what interested me," Elizabeth went on. "I took in everything that I could, took advantage of every class and independent study I thought might be beneficial. I worried, William, that the time would come when my family would become dependent on _me_, and completely. I was determined to be ready for it.

"When most little girls daydream about who they might marry, what their wedding dress will look like, and how many rooms their future home will have, I worried about keeping my younger sisters' bursts of magic hidden from the neighbors and tried to convince my father to apply himself to correcting their wayward behavior, as well as that of Mrs. Bennet. You know from some of my more recent conversations with Mr. Bennet that I became an adult well before my time," Elizabeth added as an afterthought.

Darcy sat on a fallen tree and gestured to the rock across it, which Elizabeth sat upon. She was winding up to the reason she had mentioned before. Already, he thought he might be able to guess it, but recognized she needed to voice her thoughts.

"Whenever I was at Longbourn, I corrected what I could and did my best to talk sense into my father," Elizabeth continued. "Whenever I was at Hogwarts, I worried what was happening in my absence."

Silence settled and Darcy used it to think on his next move. "Did you still have those concerns once Kitty and Lydia joined you at Hogwarts?"

"I spent more time this past year worrying than any other!" Elizabeth said with a sudden laugh. "I thought having Kitty and Lydia within reach would make things easier. How very wrong I was!"

Darcy smiled sadly. "And now? Do you worry now?"

Elizabeth sighed. "No. No I don't. And that's just it, William. For the first time, I'm not worrying over what the next year holds. I'm not concerned for how Kitty and Lydia will handle themselves. I don't feel the need to worry over every knut I spend, wondering if there was a way I could get something cheaper. And perhaps most importantly," here, a devilish smile spread over her features, "I'm not worried about some overly posh transfer students wreaking havoc in my favorite place in the world."

Darcy could not help but smirk. "Yes, those pesky transfers."

Elizabeth simply smiled at Darcy for a few moments more before saying anything else. "Darcy, I am at peace with, looking forward to, my final year at Hogwarts. I plan to enjoy it fully."

Darcy hung his head. His arguments just became much more difficult to justify.

"That is only the selfish half of the reason, though."

Darcy snapped his face back toward Elizabeth so quickly his neck popped.

"I am very much looking forward to being Mrs. Darcy and hope to be able to devote my _full attention_ to learning the role," Elizabeth said. "I do not think I would be doing you, Georgiana, or Pemberley justice to take the title before I can do so. None of you deserve that."

Darcy leapt off the fallen tree, stepped further away, and began pacing, all without looking at Elizabeth. "I am not angry," he assured. He could feel his beloved's anxiety at his actions and wanted to address it, but he did not trust himself to say more just yet.

How _very much_ he loved the woman sitting on the rock across the little clearing from him! How _very much_ he wanted to call her his wife! How _very much_ he wanted to be at Pemberley with her forever!

Finally, Darcy retook his seat. He dug his fingers into the bark upon which he sat to keep himself grounded, then met his beloved's eyes. "I understand and respect what you've told me, Elizabeth." Her eyes glowed upon hearing his declaration. "Unfortunately for you, that only makes me want to marry you all the more. I don't know that I can possibly stop trying to convince you to agree to a sooner date. If not for the fact that I think your sisters might very well kill me for it, I would Stun you, throw you over my shoulder, and bring you to Gretna Greene this very instant."

"I appreciate your restraint, sir," Elizabeth laughed. "I should hate to be made a widow so quickly!"

"My restraint is not going to last if I am with only you for much longer," Darcy growled.

"What a wolf you are!" Elizabeth cried.

"Only for you."

Elizabeth leaned slightly forward with a twinkle in her eyes that Darcy thought just might break him. "Do you know what advice I've been given in reference to wolves, sir?"

"What advice?" Darcy asked. He felt himself leaning toward his beloved without making any conscious effort to do so.

"Run!"

And run, Elizabeth did. Before Darcy could do so much as blink, she had launched from her perch on the rock and begun to speed through the woods back to the house, laughing all the while.

"You _maddening_ woman!" Darcy shouted before giving chase.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Awwww, yay things being happy!

What thoughts have you on the wedding not happening for a year yet? Share in a review!


	40. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Elizabeth and Darcy were in complete agreement that their final year at Hogwarts was the least eventful and most pleasing time at school they had experienced.

Elizabeth made her first transformation a mere six weeks into the term, taking the form of a mare. Many people had commented that a mule would have been more fitting initially, but Elizabeth's quick and witty responses to such stopped them soon enough.

In the years to come, tenants of Pemberley often asked Mr. Darcy why it was he rode a mare, rather than a stallion or gelding, whenever out on the estate. His response was always to twitch his lip in the suggestion of a smile and say it was a strange matter of import to his wife that he did not particularly mind indulging. If the tenants questioned the wisdom of bowing to such a strange quirk, especially since the mare seemed to throw Mr. Darcy off at least every other month, they never commented as much to him. And if any of them noticed that Mr. Darcy took a different steed out on business whenever Mrs. Darcy was with child or had just given birth, they never mentioned it, for how could the two possibly be connected?

The only person aside from Mr. Darcy himself that was allowed to tend at all to the mysterious mare was Permberly's stablemaster, Josiah Ridgeway. Ridgeway took on the job a few years into the Darcy's marriage. Most of the staff was initially doubtful of his skill - Ridgeway had only one arm and significant burns on that same side – but he laid those doubts to rest quickly enough. On the occasion that anyone was brave enough to ask the stablemaster how he came to be in possession of only three quarters of his limbs, Ridgeway would shrug and say a dragon got him. Pemberley's Muggle staff eventually decided Ridgeway valued his privacy and so had come up with the most ridiculous story possible. Those in possession of wands knew Ridgeway spoke complete truth.

Jane passed on the opportunity to be one of a small number that had ever been head boy or girl for more than one year. Since she was to be living in Hogsmeade with her new husband, rather than in the dormitories, she believed it was in the best interest of the student body for a new head girl to be selected. Josephine did the job admirably, even though she was the subject of a great deal of teasing from her roommates.

Six months into the school year, Caius Malfoy published an announcement that his wife had given birth to a son. The boy was named Ursus, for the Malfoys had always intended to give such a name to a son, if they were ever fortunate enough to have one. Darcy was given discreet notification only a few days later that a prisoner of Azkaban of great interest to Darcy, though said prisoner had been stripped of his identification, had died. Darcy had shown the note to his fiancée, who then showed it to Lydia, who then set the note on fire in the middle of the hallway while cackling, even as she received detention from Professor McGonagall for magic in the corridors. None of them ever spoke of the note's subject again.

Darcy went to Azkaban every twelve months or so to assure the security of another prisoner once called Wickham, now better known by the number on his robes. Darcy always stayed in the shadows, never acknowledging the various vocalizations of Wickham, nor confirming or denying his identity. He simply made sure Wickham had no opportunity for escape, that his most basic needs were being met – for Darcy had concluded after much contemplation that Wickham should be treated as a human, though he behaved as more of a rabid sort of dog – and received assurance that the prisoner had no recourse to securing release before leaving. Elizabeth knew Darcy made such visits, as he kept nothing from her, but she never asked any questions, nor did he offer any information aside from telling her after several years of making the excursions that he no longer had reason to make another.

Elizabeth and Darcy married two days after completing their formal education.

The London wedding was quite the spectacle thanks to the international guest list and the bride's appearance. The emerald in Elizabeth's nose, the dye spreading over her left hand and arm in elaborate patterns, the fascinating way in which her hair was braided and styled, and the bolts of bright and boldly patterned cloth adorning her dress were all topics of conversation for weeks after.

The nose ring was nothing new to those most closely acquainted with Elizabeth, though Mrs. Bennet had nearly fainted at the sight. Darcy had sent for a master of henna to adorn his bride's skin. Elizabeth had been unable and unwilling to stay still for more than one arm, however, and so that was how she walked down the aisle. Darcy did not mind in the slightest. The kente cloth that accented Elizabeth's wedding dress had been sent by Kobina along with his regrets for being unable to attend; he and his wife were soon to welcome their third child to the world.

Elizabeth's hair had been done by Solveig, with whom she shared her special day. Once Solveig had returned to Norway, Fitzwilliam had become quite close with Erik. As time wore on, it was revealed that the major was learning the language from his new friend. When he had an opportunity to travel to Norway on assignment, he had eagerly taken it, stayed two weeks longer than necessary, and returned an engaged man. Solveig had come a month prior to the wedding, her English much improved since the last time she had been in the country, and proceeded to thoroughly entrance her future in-laws with her winning personality and thrilling tales from home. That she had had a major role in bringing Elizabeth back to Darcy did not hurt in the least, either. Her brother Bjorn accompanied her, and ended up leaving with Phoebe, who became his wife only a few months later.

Within a year of marrying, Major Fitzwilliam became Colonel Fitzwilliam. He and his wife hardly ever spent time on English soil. It was heavily suspected that he had become involved in military intelligence, though neither of the Fitzwilliams ever confirmed as much, and especially not whether such theoretical intelligence assignments stemmed from the Muggle or magical governments. When Harland Fitzwilliam died, alone and childless at the age of thirty-two, Colonel Fitzwilliam gave up his career to become the new viscount. His and Solveig's children were positively doted on by Lord and Lady Matlock, and, to no one's surprise, caused an impressive amount of chaos when they went to Hogwarts.

If Mrs. Bennet despaired at how she could possibly tell her neighbors of such a scandalous wedding as her second daughter's, it did not bother the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, nor the new Major and Mrs. Fitzwilliam in the very least. In fact, they rather preferred it that way. Mrs. Bennet's complaints had slowed marginally when introduced to Lord and Lady Matlock, for she was in awe of their titles. She had nearly fainted when she met Bavishni and learned that she was in the presence of an actual princess.

Mr. Bennet and Elizabeth, over time, rebuilt their relationship and came to greatly enjoy being in the company of each other again. Elizabeth had cried on and off for weeks when Mr. Bennet died seven years after her marriage. Mrs. Bennet, once she heard that Mr. Darcy of Pemberley was to be her son-in-law, forgot any and all offences she imagined Elizabeth had committed and could not brag enough about the match. Elizabeth was never quite able to fully forgive her mother, however, and so the relationship was forever strained.

The Darcys never ceased in being oddities, not that they cared they were thought of as such. Many of their peers could not get their minds around the facts that Mrs. Darcy had a jewel in the middle of her face, that the couple was forever traveling here and there and bringing foreigners back with them, that the Darcys were so very involved in the affairs of Muggles.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy became quite well known and well feared by those that lived in the shadows of London, whether of the Muggle or magical variety. Hardly a month went by that they did not see to the closing of some brothel or break up a formation of dueling pits. It could not be proven, but many suspected the pair was also involved in the fact that several of those closed venues later transformed into schools or orphanages. They never claimed credit.

Being a tenant at Pemberley was something that had always been considered desirable, but after Robertson School was opened on the property and the discovery made of the Miller Fund available for advanced studies, securing a plot of land became almost a desperation. Every humble farmer that hoped for a better life for their children tried their very best to get their family onto Pemberley grounds or, if that was not possible, one of the neighboring estates that was close enough for their children to get to the school.

The Darcys had six children, all of whom were fiercely independent and highly intelligent. Their eldest daughter, named Anne for her paternal grandmother, married a Muggle with the surname Granger. Her son, like his mother, married a Muggle, and the fact that his children and eventual grandchildren displayed no magical prowess did not bother him in the slightest, for he loved them simply for the fact that they existed.

Jane and Bingley had four children, the first of which came into the world only three months after the couple completed their education at Hogwarts. Theirs was a happy family that was forever hosting some relative or another. Some were surprised at how well behaved the Bingley children were, seeing as how tolerant and easy to please their parents appeared to be. Each child spent a few years of their lives trying to convince people that their mother could be perfectly terrifying when she so chose, but no one besides their cousins ever believed them, and they soon gave it up and shrugged when asked how they turned out so well.

Upon graduating Hogwarts, Mary took up working in Flourish and Blotts. Most of her time was spent repairing books that were old, expensive, or both, and she enjoyed the peace and quiet the job afforded her. No one could be surprised that she met, fell in love with, and married a coworker that appreciated her skill and steadiness. The pair opened their own bookshop in Hogsmeade and were visited quite frequently by their nieces and nephews, though they never ended up having children of their own.

Kitty became prefect her fifth year and Head Girl in her seventh. Professor Sprout launched a career for the girl by sending her sketches to all those she knew involved in the publishing of Herbology texts and magazines. Kitty travelled regularly with the Darcys for work as much as for pleasure. On a trip to India where the Darcys intended to visit Bavishni and Kitty intended to make detailed drawings of several native plants for what would soon be the chosen text of Pomona Sprout for all Hogwarts Herbology students, Kitty just so happened to catch the eye of one of Bavishni's brothers. Darcy walked her down the aisle a year later. She remained in India until her oldest child was of age to attend Hogwarts, at which time she and her husband came back to England. The couple never flaunted that they were part of a royal family, and the knowledge was forgotten within two generations.

Lydia never married, a fact her mother bemoaned it until the day she died when Lydia was twenty-three. She became a favorite of her gaggle of nieces and nephews, for she was never short on jokes. That she was a Beater for the Holyhead Harpies and played for England in the Quidditch World Cup when she was nineteen did not hurt, either. When the time came for Lydia to retire from professional playing, she easily slid into writing about it for various papers and was frequently sought out as a consultant for teams of varying levels. She never did return to Hertfordshire.

Georgiana became nearly inseparable from Irene Gardiner. As young girls they spent almost all their time at one family's home or the other, and they entered Hogwarts the same year. It was quite a shock to them when they were sorted into different houses: Georgiana to Hufflepuff and Irene to Gryffindor. They did not let it interfere with their relationship, however, and remained the very best of friends. Mrs. Gardiner was proved correct in her prediction that Irene would tire her professors dreadfully. The girl was almost always in trouble for something or other, and the professors wondered at how it was possible that the positively angelic Georgiana Darcy could be so close to one so restless as Irene Gardiner. If both girls were among their favorites, the professors never admitted it.

The Hursts went on to have another two daughters and maintained an easy connection with the Bingleys and the Darcys. When the couple was cruelly struck with dragon pox, they sent their children off to Jane and Charles before the girls could become ill, as well. The pair died within days of each other, but they rightfully never feared for their children. Between the Bingleys and the Darcys, the Hurst ladies never wanted for anything, save the unavoidable desire to know their parents better.

Caroline Bingley, upon graduating Hogwarts with no distinctions of which to brag, left for Italy, declaring she would never return. The happier Jane and Charles, Elizabeth and Darcy had become, the more bitter Caroline had turned. Her brother heard of her marrying a wealthy Italian noble through a chain of connections courtesy of the Darcys. After the death of the Hursts, Bingley declared he had had enough of Caroline's foolishness and brought the whole of his family to Italy where he searched restlessly until locating his sister. Their relationship was never easy, but Caroline did come to know all her nieces and nephews, and Jane and Charles met their new brother-in-law and, when the time came, Caroline's only child, a boy.

* * *

"I cannot believe this is finally happening!"

Darcy looked to his wife adoringly. She was radiant with joy. Heavy with their fifth child, she could not manage more than shifting her weight rapidly from foot to foot in a physical manifestation of her emotions. He was able to watch only a few moments before giving in to the pressing desire to take her in his arms. "One would think you were excited, my dear," he said lightly in her ear.

"Only a little," Elizabeth laughed. She turned so her side was to her husband, who set his arm around her waist as they looked around the stadium in utter contentment. "Twelve hours, William! Just twelve hours and all the champions will start arriving! Oh, this is so desperately exciting! Did you ever think we would do it? Manage to get England to host an international competition?"

Darcy gave a throaty chuckle. "I've learned not to doubt anything you set your mind to, Elizabeth."

"Very wise of you, sir," said Elizabeth haughtily. "I am quite a fearsome creature to behold, when provoked."

"And that is so _very_ easy to do presently," said Darcy. He poked his wife's protruding stomach.

"Oh, now you've done it," Elizabeth cried in mock outrage. "That child was sleeping quite peacefully, and now you've woken it!"

"How could this child _possibly_ have been asleep with its mother in such a state as you are?" Darcy objected. He could not help but settle his hand where his wife's robes moved in response to whatever kicks or punches their child was throwing.

"I have it quite well trained, already," said Elizabeth. "As with our other children, it's _you_ that sets them off to mischief."

Darcy threw his head back and laughed at that. He was forever able to top the stories offered by other husbands at dinner parties thanks to his lively wife that, with their children, was always involved in some adventure or another. Every time he thought she must not be able to surprise him anymore, she proved him wrong.

"Mama! Mama! Auntie Lydia has said she will teach me to fly tomorrow!" cried Albert, the third Darcy child. He had been named in honor of the Darcys' great friend that had died in service to his country.

"You're not old enough, Albert!" Anne objected, storming up behind her younger brother. "You aren't allowed on a broom until you're eight! Isn't that so, Mama, Papa?"

Darcy started working at placating his children while Elizabeth shouted for her youngest sister. He soon gave up, however, as the two eldest Bingley children and the eldest Hurst entered the fray, declaring loudly that it was not fair Albert should be allowed to fly, though he was only six. Darcy left the children to their own devices, though kept an eye on them, as he went to join the conference consisting of Elizabeth, Jane, Bingley, and Lydia. Albert would either be convinced that he would not get on a broom by his sister and his cousins now, or he would be convinced quite definitively by his parents on the morrow.

"Oh, hush, Lizzy!" Lydia said. "You are so very overly sensitive to these things! Albert's got long legs and a good sense of balance. He'll be perfectly fine."

"I am not questioning my son's capabilities, Lydia, but your overriding of the rules William and I have set forth yet again!" Elizabeth argued.

As frequently happened, Elizabeth and Lydia worked themselves up quite fantastically and Jane calmly brought them to their senses. Darcy and Bingley exchanged glances throughout the entire ordeal. They were well aware it was in their best interest to let their wives sort out issues between them and their sisters without interference. Before long, peace was brokered and all the sisters went their separate ways without any excess of bitterness.

"She's lucky I love her as much as I do," Elizabeth muttered under her breath as she and Darcy started back toward their still-arguing children.

Darcy pulled his wife to him and kissed her on the head. "She wouldn't be Lydia if she didn't frustrate you."

Elizabeth continued to mumble darkly right up to the point where Anne's face turned to her.

"We're all set, I think," said Josephine Prewett-Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs, as she approached without taking her eyes off a long scroll. Josephine had advanced quickly through the Ministry and, thanks to her efforts to make the tournament happen that created a great deal of jobs and revenue, just might become the next Minister of Magic. She finally looked up to say, "Get yourselves home, Darcys. And do make sure that Fitzwilliam will be on time tomorrow morning. The representatives from Norway are going to be here very early and it would be highly embarrassing if their guide was not present to welcome them."

Elizabeth assured Josephine that Fitzwilliam would be punctual and the old friends exchanged excited goodbyes.

Darcy picked up Albert and Elizabeth grabbed Anne by the hand, then they all made for the carriage waiting for them at the edge of the stadium while the Bingleys disapparated. Elizabeth did not much like apparating or using the floo network while pregnant, and so the thestrals were called quite often.

"Ah, there they are!" cried Solveig, bouncing three-year-old Ella Darcy on her knee as Elizabeth and Darcy entered the main parlor of Pemberley with their middle children. "Did I not tell you your mama and papa would be back very soon?" She turned to Elizabeth. "Georgiana's gone to stay at the Gardiners', and Kitty's sent a letter."

"…and I thought to myself, 'Whatever am I to do now?' Those French can be a very tricky lot, you see, and had cornered me quite cleanly," Fitzwilliam said as he backed into the room engaged in a mock sword fight with Victor, the eldest of the Darcy children. "But then, I saw that one of the scoundrels had a pegleg, and so – "

"Richard, you _can't_ think Victor still wants to hear this tale after you've told it so many times," Darcy said flatly. He picked up Ella as he spoke, for she had run over to him with all the grace a girl of her age could.

"Must you always ruin my fun, old man?" Fitzwilliam asked. While he was distracted Victor poked him in the belly, making him cry out and double over.

"Go for the neck, Victor," Solveig suggested to her nephew. "You're much more likely to hit something important there."

"I'm glad you think my liver disposable, my dear," Fitzwilliam said to his wife as he stumbled to a chair with exaggerated difficulty.

"So Aunt Solveig has been doing your hair, has she?" Elizabeth asked Ella as she fingered a braid on her daughter's head.

"She kept crying because her hair didn't look like Cousin Sif's," Albert said with a grimace. He was promptly scolded by his father for issuing something that sounded suspiciously like whining.

"Where _are_ our children, Richard?" Solveig asked her husband rather dangerously.

"Prisoners of war," said Victor promptly, sparing his uncle from replying.

Solveig immediately set upon her husband in her native tongue and he defended himself in the same. Before long, they were off, presumably to whatever location housed their children, though Fitzwilliam winked at his oldest nephew before disappearing.

"That man has a death wish, I'm sure," Elizabeth said under her breath as Anne began loudly telling her older brother how much he should regret choosing to stay home, rather than coming to see the site of the tournament.

The Fitzwilliams, both being skillful warriors, often set ambushes for each other with the help of their three children. The viscount's casual response to his wife's rage told the Darcys that he had done so presently in their home. It was a strange sort of flirtation that frequently resulted in things being broken, though _usually_ at least bones were spared.

"He must," Darcy agreed with a low chuckle. "If Solveig doesn't get him, I imagine you will if he breaks one more thing in this house."

"I gave up on keeping anything of value out once _you_ started Victor on swordplay," Elizabeth said archly. She had never kept much decoration out to begin with, but once their eldest had started swinging the foil his father had ordered especially for him at anything that could be construed as a target, she had made sure the hallways were practically barren. Such saved her quite a bit of grief. If the walls of Pemberley were especially scuffed and pitted from Victor's play and that of their other children, the Darcys did not care one bit.

"I may have started Victor on fencing, but at least I never encouraged him and Anne to climb the drapes in the drawing room," Darcy shot back. In the background, Albert told Victor that Aunt Lydia would teach him to fly on the morrow. Victor said, in a very good imitation of his father, that Albert most certainly would _not_ be on a broom, for he would not let his little brother do so before their parents allowed him, no matter what Aunt Lydia might say.

"That was _one isolated incident_," Elizabeth scoffed.

"Perhaps so," Darcy conceded, "but it did inspire a month-long episode of us having to search up the walls for them."

"Mama!" Ella called, stretching out her little arms in the direction of Elizabeth. She had, apparently, grown bored of being in her father's arms and required a different host.

Elizabeth, though she stifled a yawn, was perfectly ready to take her daughter into her arms, but Darcy knew how very quickly his wife's energy was spent when she was growing another human being. Though Elizabeth would not complain, and indeed enjoyed holding her daughter, the girl's weight would make Elizabeth uncomfortable after a day of wandering about the competition site tending to last minute details.

This pregnancy, in particular, seemed to drain Elizabeth quickly. Darcy had asked Jane multiple times if he ought to be concerned. Though his sister-in-law stated confidently she believed Elizabeth was so exhausted because she was on her fifth child and not getting any younger, Darcy continued to hover over his wife to the point she sometimes resorted to banishing him from whatever room she was in.

"Ella, how very kind of you to be the first to wish your mama a good night," said Darcy to his youngest, skillfully manipulating her actions to suit his aim. Elizabeth had seemed to realize that she was, indeed, quite exhausted when Ella had reached out to her. He began the process of herding his children toward their beds by affording Ella the chance to hug her mother's neck and kiss her sloppily on the cheek from his own arms.

"But, Papa, I'm not tired!" Anne protested as Darcy guided her toward the stairs with a gentle knee to her back. He had Ella resting in the crook of one arm and was pulling Albert forward with his other hand.

"I'm ten now, Papa! Can I not stay up longer?" Victor tried.

Darcy called up the stairs to Mary who, with her husband, had come to stay at Pemberley for the duration of the tournament to help look after the Darcy and Fitzwilliam children.

Victor and Anne ceased complaining immediately and did exactly as their Aunt Mary told them, even taking charge of Albert and Ella. The Darcy children had learned early on that Mary was quite adept at getting her way and that they could never quite outthink or overwhelm her as they were sometimes able to do with their other aunts and uncles.

His children managed, Darcy devoted his attention to helping his wife clamber up the stairs. Once that herculean task was managed, he set about aiding her in changing into her night clothes and stabilizing her as she got into bed. The Darcys rarely called upon their valet at lady's maid, preferring time to themselves to unwind at the end of the day.

"I blame you, you know, for the fact that I'm in such a state at such a time as this," Elizabeth huffed as she shifted herself this way and that, trying to get comfortable.

"If memory serves me right, you were rather a willing participant," Darcy laughed as he relieved his feet of his boots.

"I am of mind to think that you flaunted your paternal skills very powerfully and carefully, thus wearing down my defenses," Elizabeth muttered. "I can still blame you for making yourself irresistible."

"Oh?" Darcy asked lightly. He grinned devilishly at his wife, then flopped down on the bed and propped himself up on his elbow. "My paternal skills are of interest to you, then? Shall I tell you of how I had Anne help me when I brewed that potion for Ella's cold last week? Or of how, when Albert became quite tired of walking earlier today, I carried him upon my shoulders? Perhaps you'd like to know that I intend to have Victor sit with me through a series of duels tomorrow so I can answer his great multitudes of questions."

"Wolf," Elizabeth accused as Darcy leaned over her to kiss her nose.

Darcy howled in response, drawing a laugh from his wife.

"Get ready to sleep," Elizabeth ordered with a smile, pushing on her husband's shoulder.

Once he had changed and cleaned his face and hands, Darcy pulled back the covers and laid beside his wife, taking care to make sure the blankets covered her completely. "Can I hold you, or are you too uncomfortable?"

As a response, Elizabeth grabbed her husband's arm and pulled it across her. "I am very glad to have a husband so considerate as you, William Darcy," she sighed happily. "Even if it is your fault I feel like a whale at present."

Darcy kissed his best friend's cheek. "I have never loved you more, Elizabeth Darcy, than I do in this moment." He said the words quite regularly, and every time spoke the complete and utter truth.

Elizabeth was soon asleep, though her husband stayed up quite a bit longer marveling at her, his hand rested on the child she carried. How she managed to sleep when their child seemed to be practicing the most energetic of dances, he could not understand.

* * *

The tournament had been going smoothly for nearly a week, and Darcy was highly pleased. He and Elizabeth switched from day to day who would sit in the stands with their elder children and dissect the duels and who would wander the site with the younger two tending to various issues that arose. He was with Victor and Anne today, but had plans to switch places with his wife at lunch so she could sit and rest, rather than walk all about. With any luck, Albert and Ella would be tired enough they would not object to simply going home early with their mother.

"Victor!" shouted Philip Bingley, the eldest of his siblings, as he slipped into the seat beside his cousin. "Guess what!"

"Grandpapa Matlock is to take us down with him tomorrow to observe the judging!" Regina Hurst burst, squishing her way onto the bench as well. "We're to spend the night with him and Grandmama!" The Matlocks had taken the children – by birth or by adoption – of all the Bennet sisters as their own and thoroughly enjoyed being able to spoil many more grandchildren than they ever thought possible.

"_I_ was going to tell him, Gina!" Philip snapped.

Darcy, sat between his children, stiffened slightly and looked around as Anne joined the brewing chaos. He hardly even noticed as she crawled across him to become fully involved. Very, _very_ rarely were plans involving the children confirmed without first consulting the appropriate parents. A few seconds later, Mary's husband settled himself among his warring nieces and nephews and Bingley planted himself behind Darcy. When Darcy cocked is eyebrow in a silent query, Bingley nodded.

"Victor, Anne, you stay with your uncles," Darcy firmly directed his children as he rose from his seat.

"Where are you going, Papa?" Victor asked, abandoning Philip mid-sentence.

"Something has come up, that is all," said Darcy nonchalantly. "Be good for your grandparents, and I will see you tomorrow. Anne, you know your grandpapa will take you to the judge's table tomorrow, also. Don't let Victor and Philip upset you. And Victor, do not expect sympathy if you incite Anne to accidental magic with your teasing."

Anne sat up taller and raised her nose slightly in the air as Darcy left, satisfied with his assurances while Victor blushed at being called out for his poor behavior. Regina stuck her tongue out at Philip as he whined about Anne's inclusion.

Once out of sight of his eldest children, Darcy began positively clambering over people until finally coming to Fitzwilliam, who was waiting for him just beneath the stands.

"Solveig took Albert and Ella to my mother," Fitzwilliam said without preamble as he and his cousin began striding with great purpose through the crowd toward the designated area for apparition. "She'll be to Pemberley as soon as possible. Assuming I can find and convince Lydia to leave all this fun, I'll send her to help with the younger children."

"Much as I respect your wife, mother, and my sister-in-law, Richard, they are not my chief object of concern," Darcy growled as he barely avoided running over a loose goat. It was soon followed by a small boy, presumably the one who was in charge of it.

"Lizzy was with Jane and Solveig, taking the younger children through the marketplace, when the first pain hit Lizzy," said Fitzwilliam. "Or the first pain anyone observed, anyway. Jane thinks Lizzy must have been hiding them for a few hours, at least."

"_What?_" Darcy burst. He accidentally rammed his shoulder into some poor merchant's cart and apologized quickly before hurrying on.

"Jane's a smart woman, and knows Lizzy well," said Fitzwilliam, carrying on without acknowledging the blunder. "She brought the Bingley carriage today as a precaution and Solveig used it to bring the younger ones back to Matlock house. Jane went with Lizzy in _your_ carriage and is likely to be touching down any moment. Marvelous foresight on your part, making sure this tournament would be held in Derbyshire."

Darcy ground his teeth instead of answering. He _hated_ that Elizabeth had kept the start of her labor a secret.

"Don't be angry, Darcy," Fitzwilliam chided. "I'm sure Lizzy just didn't want to disappoint Albert and Ella. You know they'd been looking forward to going through the market with her. If she had said something, you would have – "

"Of _course_ I would have!" Darcy snapped. He loved his wife more than he could possibly explain, but _Merlin's beard_ could she frustrate him with her stubbornness!

"I'll go take over for Bingley and he'll join you soon," said Fitzwilliam, stopping on the boarder of the apparition area. "I only wish I wasn't needed by our guests from Norway so I could be with you, old man."

Darcy only nodded once to acknowledge his cousin's statement before disapparating.

"Darcy!" Jane called as her brother-in-law materialized at the opposite end of the Darcy's secret stable that housed their thestrals. "Good, this will raise fewer questions from your staff than Josiah helping me. Grab Lizzy's other side."

Instead of taking one of Elizabeth's arms, Darcy simply picked her up and kicked open the door that led from the thestral stable to the primary stable, shocking a few grooms going about their business. "Why didn't you say anything, Elizabeth?" Darcy asked tightly. Jane ran ahead.

"You worry too much, William," Elizabeth answered, trying to tease.

"Elizabeth," Darcy growled.

"If it's any consolation, I planned on telling you at lunch and going home then," said Elizabeth. She put a great deal of focus into her words. It distracted her from her discomfort. "It's not usually quite so quick. I didn't want you fussing _all_ day."

"It is my pleasure and my privilege to 'fuss' over you, Elizabeth, and I would prefer not being denied such," Darcy replied as he went through Pemberley's main doors.

Elizabeth, rather than make a reply, grit her teeth and set a white-knuckled grip on the lapels of her husband's robes. Darcy picked up his pace.

Things were a blur for Darcy until Sovleig arrived and pushed him out of the room. "You stress Lizzy with your worry. You know this, Darcy! Out with you!" Solveig ordered, then shut the door quite firmly.

Bingley, good friend he was, stood just a few feet away with two glasses of brandy. Darcy downed his in one gulp.

"I still don't like that she won't let me in," Darcy grumbled.

Bingley gave a sympathetic smile. "You did not marry a weak woman, Darcy, in any sense of the word," he said. He slapped Darcy's shoulder and started down the hallway. "Come along, man. Let's find out what sort of ridiculousness I'll resort to this time."

When Elizabeth had been in labor with Victor, Darcy had at first been with her. After a time, however, Elizabeth declared quite forcefully that she did _not_ want to be hovered over and made him leave. Then Darcy had been tended to by Fitzwilliam and Bingley, who tried to keep Darcy sane then and all the subsequent times Elizabeth labored with the support of her sisters. Darcy was not easily distracted, so his cousin and brother-in-law had quite the task. And now poor Bingley would have to manage it alone.

When Victor was a few weeks old, Darcy had finally broached the subject of his eviction with his wife. Elizabeth had, lovingly and patiently, explained the she had not wanted to hurt Darcy, but she could not expend the energy worrying for him in such moments and that she could not help but do so when she was near him and he was in such a state. The couple discussed the issue many, many times. Neither was completely satisfied, as they would both prefer Darcy be present, but they were unable to find some sort of compromise that would please them both, and so the separation continued.

Mary came after a time, as did Mrs. Gardiner, to be of aid.

"Sit back _down_, Darcy," said Bingley tiredly after a particularly loud exclamation from Elizabeth. His massive amounts of patience were beginning to fatigue. "You'll only make things worse by going over there."

Darcy sat for a whole five seconds before popping out of his seat again and beginning to pace. It was a good thing, he thought, that there were so many people he and Elizabeth could entrust their children to. He did not like himself being in such a state. He could only imagine the amount of distress Victor, Anne, Albert, or Ella would feel upon seeing their normally even-tempered and well-groomed father stomping around his study, his clothes disheveled and his hair a mess.

How much time passed, Darcy did not care to know, before he heard half of what had become his favorite sound: his latest child crying as it first experienced the world and his wife crying with joy. His elation dived quickly when he heard only the child and his wife stayed quiet.

"Darcy," said Bingley cautiously, noting the tension in his friend's shoulders.

The door to the room swung open quickly and Mary stood in the entry. This, like Bingley's company, had become a tradition. Mary would come with a smile to invite Darcy to come greet the newest addition to the family. Now, however, she was not smiling.

"Lizzy wants you," Mary stated.

Darcy lost not a fraction of a second before bolting up to the room he shared with his wife. He first looked to Mrs. Gardiner, who was sitting in a rocking chair in the corner with a bundle of blankets. "Is it…?"

Mrs. Gardiner nodded and smiled before devoting the whole of her attention to the baby she held.

Darcy allowed himself a brief moment of enjoyment for the health of the latest Darcy, then whirled around to Elizabeth. Jane, Solveig, and now Mary were fluttering about her, and she looked beyond exhausted, but the exhaustion was entirely different from the past births. There was no relief, no joy.

Without a care for the variety of messes or what would become of his robes, Darcy sat himself beside his wife and began wiping her brow.

"There's not yet reason to truly panic," Jane said to the room at large as she continued her various tasks. "Just because this is different than the past four times doesn't mean there's reason to panic."

Jane's assurances did _not_ ease Darcy's growing anxiety. Things were not right, and no one seemed quite sure why.

"You're not going to become a hermit, William, are you?" Elizabeth eventually asked weakly.

"A hermit?" Darcy asked.

"If there _is_ reason to panic and I – "

Darcy did not need, nor did he want, Elizabeth to finish her sentence. "I promise I will do my very best to live as you want and to provide everything I can for our children."

Elizabeth seemed content with the answer.

What happened in the next hour, Darcy would never be able to recall with clarity. There was a lot of confusion and shouting from all parties involved. Elizabeth was so tired she, for the first time in any of her birthing experiences, cried that she wanted to stop. Through it all, Darcy encouraged his wife and did whatever he could think to make her just a fraction more comfortable. At the end of the chaos, Darcy was holding one baby, Elizabeth another, and everyone was healthy.

"You never cease to surprise me, my dear," Darcy said to his wife. He knew Jane, Mary, Solveig, and Mrs. Gardiner to all be bustling about the room tending to necessities, but he had eyes only for the other Darcys.

"I don't know if I'll be able to top this one," Elizabeth said drowsily. "I surprised even myself!"

Darcy kissed the top of Elizabeth's head. "What shall we name them?"

"Artemis and Apollo, I think," Elizabeth said. Despite her weariness, mischief sparked in her eyes.

"Fitting for a pair of twins, I grant you," said Darcy, "but it might be best for us to explore other options."

Elizabeth sighed dramatically. "Your turn to suggest something, then."

"We could name our son Thomas, after your father?"

Elizabeth considered a few moments before responding. "No, I think it best we let the names Thomas and Frances die with the last bearers of them. George?"

Darcy grimaced. As much as he had loved his father, he could not bear the idea of one of his children having the same name as the man that had been willing to sell his wife off to a stranger. He thought, not for the first time, how cruel it was that Old Mr. Wickham had named his son for George Darcy.

Darcy and Elizabeth went back and forth many times before settling on calling their son Nicolas and their daughter Alicia. Elizabeth drifted to sleep shortly after. Darcy stared adoringly at his family for several more minutes before he, too, fell asleep.

Mr. and Mrs. Darcy were woken up several times throughout the night by their latest children, but they did not complain.

* * *

Elizabeth was soon back on her feet thanks to the care of her family and the plethora of concoctions the finest potions master and owner of the largest apothecary in all of England, Zebulon Thomas, brought for her. Elizabeth was so well, in fact, that she was able to attend the morning sessions of the last three days of the tournament and the entirety of the awards ceremony.

"I think I shall sleep a week complete, now that's all over," Elizabeth declared as she fell into bed. The carriage ride back from the tournament had been a mess. Victor, Anne, and Albert all wanted to hold their youngest siblings and bickered over it. Ella, thankfully, did not join in the chaos as she was content to simply make silly faces for the twins.

"Pleasing as that may sound, I think we both know it to be an absurd fantasy," said Darcy, rubbing his neck as he made his way across the room. He and Elizabeth had just settled all their children to bed and left the twins with their hired wet nurse. They had never hired a wet nurse before, but it had not taken long before one was acquired. Caring for twins was certainly different than caring for a single baby.

"I know," Elizabeth sighed. After a few moments, she continued, "Even if we could sleep for a week, I don't think we should, on further reflection. Nick and Alicia would surely be teenagers! They grow so very fast. How is it that Victor is off to Hogwarts in just a few months? Were we not just tucking him into a crib a short while ago?"

"I, for one, am quite pleased for Victor to be going to Hogwarts," said Darcy as he got into bed. "With any luck, he will find some beautiful, witty, and impertinent girl with which to spend his life."

"If it's your wish for that to happen, I hope you've instructed Victor as to failings that would drive such a girl away from him," Elizabeth said with a smirk.

"No, for then he would miss out on the opportunity for that girl to make him into better person," said Darcy. "The suggestions of a beautiful woman are far more effective than the rebukes of friends and family," he added with an annoying smile.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, dear."

Darcy settled, Elizabeth wrapped in his arms, into a deep sleep with hopes that Hogwarts would bring as many opportunities for joy to his children as it had to him.

* * *

**Author's Note**

Here we are, 7 months, 5 days, 457 pages, and 210,000+ words later. I'm going to miss working on this story a heck of a lot. I didn't want to say goodbye to it, which is, in fact, why I only wrote the last half of the epilogue yesterday. Had to just bite the bullet and do it.

I hope things wrapped up to your satisfaction and that you enjoyed all the little Darcys! Thanks for reading along and going on this adventure with me.


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